Thread: MA: Ordinance to restrict illegal immigrants eyed

http://www.townonline.com/weymouth/home ... 9688148991

Ordinance to restrict illegal immigrants eyed
By Ed Baker
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - Updated: 05:16 PM EST



Casimiro said that the ordinance is needed because Congress is not making any strides to remedy illegal immigration in the United States.
“Last year, the House of Representatives and the Senate produced two competing bills,” he said. “Because the issue was so contentious and the differences in the two bills were so significant, no conference committee could be formed to resolve their differences. The 109th Congress adjourned with no significant action on immigration reform.”
Casimiro said that local authorities have been forced to confront illegal immigrants on several occasions during the past five years.
“Mr. Joseph Dickey of Weymouth was allegedly killed in an automobile accident by an illegal alien in April, 2002,” he said. “We’ve been told that five percent of the traffic stops by the Weymouth police department involve illegal aliens. This might be an area to be explored by the (town council) public safety committee.”
During a raid in September, 2003, Casimiro said, federal authorities discovered that illegal immigrants were using a home on Jaffrey Street to produce fraudulent documents to smuggle non-citizens into the United States.
Connolly argued that the ordinance is needed to prevent illegal immigrants from being exploited by businesses and homeowners.
“Businesses and homeowners who hire illegal immigrants turn a blind eye towards their exploitation, which is immoral and corrupts our values,” he said. “They, too, show contempt for our laws, and their greed and selfishness tear the fabric of our community. The ordinance addresses that problem.”
The proposed ordinance requires that:
The Weymouth licensing board and police enforce its legalities.
Businesses cannot willfully hire illegal immigrants.
Businesses must state they do not knowingly hire illegal immigrants on an affidavit to the town solicitor, George Lane.
After a complaint notice is issued, businesses must provide the licensing board with information about workers who are alleged to be illegal immigrants in three working days.
Employers who fail to comply with a request by the licensing board to supply information about alleged illegal immigrants will have their commercial license suspended until details about the workers are submitted.
The licensing board must notify businesses whenever an employee is discovered to be an illegal immigrant after an investigation.
The proposal additionally requires businesses that are found to have two or more illegal immigrants working for them on an initial violation to participate in the federal Basic Pilot program.
Basic Pilot allows employers to verify a worker’s identity with the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau.
The proposed ordinance penalizes landlords who knowingly rent a unit to an illegal immigrant.
Landlords won’t be allowed to collect rental payments or fees from any tenants if they willfully rent a dwelling to an illegal immigrant and don’t take decisive actions to end the violation.
“Weymouth has a large number of rental units, which a low-wage earner cannot afford,” Connolly said. “However, many illegal immigrants live in overcrowded conditions that violate zoning laws and health ordinances and do so in self-righteous contempt for our laws.”
Councilor-at-large Patrick O’Connor said that illegal immigration is a significant issue that should be discussed at length.
“As chairman of the public safety committee, I agree that illegal immigration is a major problem in the United States,” he said. “In Weymouth, I do think there should be a lengthy discussion over this. I promise to bring this issue up to the public safety committee.”
When the discussion ended, Council President Michael Smart thanked Connolly and Casimiro for sharing their proposal.
Weymouth Police Sgt. John Concannon said police did not tell Casimiro that five percent of traffic stops involve illegal immigrants.
“I don’t know where he got that information,” he said on Jan. 17. “I don’t know how many car stops our officers do during the course of a year.”
Concannon said that police only stop a motorist when an infraction occurs.
“When we stop a car, it’s based on an infraction and not based on a person’s skin color or ethnicity,” he said. “We stop a car for a motor vehicle violation.”
Concannon said police can only verify if a driver has a motor vehicle license during a road stop.
“We only determine whether they have an arrest record, but we can’t determine if they are in the country illegally,” he said.
Casimiro said the proposed ordinance is modeled after similar ordinances being considered or approved by several towns in Massachusetts.
“We took a model ordinance drafted by advocacy groups,” he added.

http://www.townonline.com/weymouth/home ... 3526122495

Ordinance proposal urges respect for immigration laws
By Ed Baker
Thursday, February 08, 2007 - Updated: 05:37 PM EST




Efforts to encourage businesses and landlords to obey immigration laws are being urged by a former school committee member in a proposed ordinance.

“The ordinance I’m proposing does not target illegal immigrants specifically,” Richard Connolly, a former school committee member said on Feb. 7. “It promotes respect for the law. Nobody in the country has ever tried it.”

The proposed ordinance is a much softer measure than a previous proposal Connolly and former Weymouth resident Robert Casimiro asked town council to approve last month.

The latter proposed ordinance called for fining landlords who willfully rent housing to illegal immigrants and penalizing employers who knowingly hire workers that have no authorization to be in the U.S.

Town council referred the proposed ordinance to its public safety committee and Connolly recently withdrew it.

The current ordinance being proposed encourages businesses and landlords to obey immigration laws but does not penalize them if a violation occurs.

“There are no state or federal issues with it because there is no enforcement of it,” Connolly said. “What the ordinance attempts to encourage is positive peer pressure to be law abiding citizens.”

The recommended ordinance urges local firms to voluntarily state its respect for immigration laws by displaying a decal with an American flag which proclaims “All American and Legal Workers Only” on a window or wall for people to see.

A similar emblem will be available for landlords to display on a dwelling, or window with the inscription, “All American and legal renters only.”

“It will be something like tying a yellow ribbon around an oak tree,” Connolly said.

He said illegal immigration is an issue the nation must confront in communities around the U.S.

“If you look at the various South Shore communities, you will see there are many children in the school systems that have poor English skills,” Connolly said.

He said the percentages of children who are studying English as a second language in Weymouth schools and Randolph Public Schools suggests some of them maybe here illegally.

“In 2005-2006, Weymouth had a total of 331 children in English language programs,” Connolly said.

State law requires English language programs for, “children who don’t’ speak English and are unable to perform ordinary classroom work in English.”

Connolly said Randolph had 44.1 percent of its students enrolled in specialized English classes last year.

“In Cohasset there are none,” Connolly said. “Duxbury had .01 percent of its students in English language classes and Hingham had .06 percent of its students in English classes.”

He said these percentages are based on data provided by the state Department of Education.

“It does not mean all the children in these English language classes are here in the country illegally,” Connolly said. “But clearly something is happening here.”

The proposed ordinance calls for the formation of a citizens volunteer committee to identify businesses or landlords who are violating the measure to town officials.

“The inquiry indicates the possibility of a violation which must be documented by digital pictures or video, and requests a voluntary response,” Connolly said in a written description of the proposed ordinance.

Notifications will be sent to persons who are alleged to be in violation of the ordinance.

Businesses and landlords who don’t respond to an inquiry about a possible violation will be listed on the town’s website unless posting the titles conflicts with the town’s government.

The proposed measure allows demonstrations against suspected violators by trained volunteers using official placards in a “spirit of civility.”

Connolly said the intended ordinance is meant to encourage obedience of the law and not to promote contempt for illegal immigrants.

“Some of the groups that are speaking out against illegal immigrants are way out there and I’m not one of them,” he said. “This is an original proposal that is different. It seeks to promote positive values. We need to declare Weymouth as a civil community that promotes the law instead of being like Cambridge, which promotes itself as a safe haven for illegal immigrants. We are witnessing a culture of self righteous contempt for our own laws.”

Councilors received copies of the proposed ordinance from Connolly last week. The council heard a brief description of the ordinance on Feb. 5 but took no action on the proposal.

Council President Michael Smart said the councilors need time to review the proposed measure before it can act on the measure.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articl ... _illegal_i THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING


WEYMOUTH
Proposal targets illegal immigrants
By Christine Wallgren, Globe Correspondent | March 4, 2007

Civil rights and antidiscrimination groups are closely watching the progress of a Weymouth resident's proposal for a local law that would require business owners and landlords to provide proof they don't hire or rent rooms to illegal immigrants.

Richard Connolly , a former member of the School Committee, submitted the proposed ordinance to the Weymouth Town Council last month. It needs a single councilor's sponsorship at tomorrow night's Town Council meeting to proceed to the Ordinance Committee for review and a recommendation.

Connolly asserts his ordinance promotes "respect for the law" by creating public awareness of lawbreakers who hire or rent to illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration, he said, "corrupts our society by creating a culture of self-righteous contempt for our laws and values."

Civil rights and immigration groups are hoping the proposal dies a quick death.

"I see this as a really bad idea," said Sarah Wunsch , spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts . "Immigration law is extremely complicated. I don't know whether a citizens committee will understand it. What happens is people here even lawfully may be denied jobs. It is a form of vigilantism. The town, it seems to me, shouldn't be involved in this."

Such local ordinances have been popping up in communities across the country over the past year, and are quickly challenged by groups such as the ACLU. According to the ACLU, 86 communities in 27 states have proposed similar ordinances . Of those, 26 have been enacted, but a large number are being blocked from going into effect by court injunctions. Weymouth's, if approved, would be the first in Massachusetts.

Under Connolly's proposal, a volunteer panel of citizens would be appointed to "invite" landlords and business owners to register with a town anti-illegals program. Registrants would be given decals with American flags to display on their properties, emblazoned with the words "All American and Legal Workers Only" or "All American and Legal Renters Only." Those who register would be listed on the town's website. Those who don't would also be listed.

The volunteer committee would be able to investigate anyone it believed had an illegal worker or tenant, using such documentation as digital photos or videos. There would be no fines for violators. Compliance would result from "peer pressure." The ordinance would also provide a mechanism to report suspected violators to state and federal authorities. Connolly originally included a paragraph allowing the citizens panel to boycott businesses believed to be in violation, but said he plans to submit a revised version without that language for tomorrow's meeting.

Town Council president Michael Smart said councilors are reviewing the proposal. It's not the first such ordinance to be proposed in Weymouth; another resident submitted a similar proposal about 18 months ago. "No action was taken at the time," Smart said.

Connolly teamed up with that earlier proponent and submitted a revised proposal last fall. That was abandoned for the current package, submitted solely by Connolly.

"I don't feel there is a huge problem in town with illegal immigrants," Smart said. "And I'm concerned about a volunteer organization going around and doing things like identifying people based on their ethnicity or color of their skin."

Connolly said a personal experience prompted him to become involved. "I hired a contractor to cut down some trees at my house, and he had illegal immigrants doing the work," he said. "I was deeply upset by it." Asked how he knew they were illegal immigrants, he said: "They couldn't communicate in English. That was the conclusion I came to."

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition says it is afraid of that very behavior, and plans to closely watch what happens in Weymouth.

"How does one determine if somebody is an illegal or undocumented immigrant?" asked the coalition's executive director, Ali Noorani .

"I don't think the town of Weymouth is in the business of discriminating against local residents, and this ordinance could lead to that," Noorani said. "If you sound like an immigrant in Weymouth, this ordinance will put you under a great deal of public scrutiny."

Connolly said he believes such scrutiny is necessary.

"A law-abiding citizenry is what's needed," he said. "All we are asking is respect for our laws."

Councilor-at-Large Michael Molisse said he has received a number of e-mails supporting Connolly's proposal, but believes they have been sent by outsiders, not residents. He said he does not recognize their names.

"I think law-enforcement agencies should be handling this, not a citizens group," Molisse said. "Weymouth is a beautiful community. Something like this is overboard, and it would be devastating to the town."

The Town Council meets at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in Town Hall.

Christine Wallgren can be reached at clwallgren@aol.com.



© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

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“Businesses and homeowners who hire illegal immigrants turn a blind eye towards their exploitation, which is immoral and corrupts our values,” he said. “They, too, show contempt for our laws, and their greed and selfishness tear the fabric of our community. The ordinance addresses that problem.”

I couldn't have said it better!
What really surprises me, that this is Ted Kennedy's state, yet he doesn't have a clue all this is going on around him. I wonder if he ever reads the newspaper? Maybe I'll send him a friendly email on the subject.

What surprises me MORE, is I LIVE in WEYMOUTH and just found this link through a search.

I just saw a THIRD Brazilian store spring up within a mile of the other two, and there's garbage cans all over the sidewalk and trash blowing in the street. I just called the health department and reported them, and took photos.