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Church council rips Levy immigration policy

BY BART JONES
Newsday Staff Writer

August 16, 2006

A coalition of 400 churches across the region came out yesterday against Suffolk Executive Steve Levy's latest initiative on illegal immigration, saying it may increase discrimination and that it goes against Christian values to help the less fortunate.

Calling Levy's latest policy "the last nail in the coffin" for the Long Island Council of Churches, Mary Dewar said the group's leaders are speaking out against the initiative involving contractors and undocumented immigrants because "the church position is usually you help the underdog, you help the oppressed, you help the poor."

She added that the immigrants "are not here to commit crimes and they're not here to do anything but try to get enough money to feed their families because they can't find work where they come from."

Levy's proposed law would require town governments, businesses, social service agencies and other groups with contracts from Suffolk County to file a sworn affidavit annually, vouching that their employees are in the United States legally.

Filing a false affidavit could lead to fines of up to $2,000 per worker for every day they remained on the payroll, or up to six months in jail.

Levy has stated that he is taking on the issue because the federal government has failed to enforce a 20-year-old law that requires businesses to vouch that their employees are in the country legally. Fourteen of 18 county legislators told Newsday they support the bill.

Levy expressed surprise yesterday at the criticism from the church groups.

"As a person who attended a religious elementary school, I was always taught the importance of playing by the rules," he said. "So it puzzles me why these leaders would advocate for people to break the rules, and to cut the line in front others trying to get into the country legally."

Dewar said she believes the immigration system is broken, and there is no real line for low-skilled migrants from countries such as Mexico. The council is backing reform efforts in Washington to create a legal channel for the immigrants.

She said Jesus broke laws he believed were unjust, putting human compassion before rules and regulations. The migrants come here without papers "out of desperation," she said. "It's because they're trying to keep alive and feed their families."