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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Congressman Endorses Plan to Ban Contractors From Using Ille

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/nyreg ... ffolk.html

    August 17, 2006
    Congressman Endorses Suffolk County Plan to Ban Contractors From Using Illegal Immigrants
    By BRUCE LAMBERT
    HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Aug. 16 — Suffolk County’s plan to prohibit local government contractors from hiring illegal immigrants won an endorsement on Wednesday from a key member of Congress on domestic security issues, who urged communities across the nation to follow the county’s example in grappling with immigration.

    Until the federal government itself gets the problem under control, Suffolk’s proposed law “should be emulated throughout the country,” said Representative Peter T. King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, who sees immigration as a security issue as well as an economic one.

    Mr. King, whose district includes part of Suffolk, spoke at a news conference here with County Executive Steve Levy, who drafted the legislation. The congressman said local actions would prod Washington, where his own immigration bill has passed the House but not the Senate. That measure would authorize a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border; raise the crime of illegal immigration to a felony; and criminalize giving assistance, including food and water, to illegal immigrants.

    Mr. Levy, a co-founder of a national coalition called Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform, said his goal was “to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants.” The concept “will spread like wildfire” and “have a major impact from California to Maine,” he predicted.

    Similar efforts are already being made elsewhere. Hazleton, Pa., recently adopted a measure denying business permits to companies that hire illegal immigrants and fining landlords who rent to them. Civil rights groups are challenging that law in court.

    The Suffolk bill is the latest turn in a long-running and strident debate on Long Island, where Mr. Levy has drawn both praise and criticism for his crackdown on illegal immigration. Previously he proposed but backed away from a plan to deputize county police officers to help enforce immigration laws. Last year he was accused of failing to provide county aid to relocate tenants evicted when the Town of Brookhaven raided homes overcrowded with dozens of immigrants.

    The new legislation is sharply opposed by various religious and immigrant groups and some labor unions. This week the Long Island Council of Churches weighed in against it. But the proposal has overwhelming backing in the Suffolk County Legislature, which is expected to adopt it next month.

    Mr. Levy said the public also widely supported the proposed ban. The critics “are trumped by a 10-to-1 margin from everyday residents who say, ‘Thank goodness, it’s about time,’ ” he said.

    Mr. King agreed. “The American people have spoken loudly and clearly that they want to stop illegal immigration,” he said.

    The bill would apply to about 6,000 companies and agencies that have contracts with Suffolk County that are paid entirely with county funds. The legislation would require those employers to verify that their workers are in the country legally. Employers could be fined and face up to six months in jail; repeated violations could forfeit the employers’ county contracts.

    The aim, Mr. Levy said, is to protect honest contractors against unfair competition from companies that exploit illegal workers by underpaying them. “This bill will level the playing field,” he said. “If you want a contract with Suffolk County, you have to play by the rules.”

    Though some people have objected that the county legislation duplicates existing federal law, Mr. Levy says the law is unenforced. So does Mr. King, who said “there’s a real failure on the part of the federal government.”

    Skeptics say illegal aliens generally work in landscaping, restaurants and private construction, rather than on county projects. “I haven’t seen any data indicating this is a problem. I haven’t seen any rampant abuse by employers. Why do we need this law?” said Vivian Viloria-Fisher. She is one of two Hispanic members of the Suffolk Legislature, the only members who have announced they will vote against the bill.

    The bill’s “draconian measures” could make employers afraid to hire people with darker skins, ethnic names and foreign accents, Ms. Viloria-Fisher said. She criticized the bill for not including an anti-discrimination clause like the one in federal law.

    The legislation is “a symbolic gesture” that “fans the flames of hatred and divisiveness,” she said.

    Carlos Canales, a labor organizer at the Workplace Project, an advocacy group for immigrants in Hempstead, N.Y., called Mr. Levy “an anti-immigrant politician” who is using the issue for political gain. “All he has done is to pick up a whip to whip the immigrant, to attack us,” he said.

    But Mr. Levy dismissed his critics as “ridiculous” and said that local government must act because “we have to bear the consequences” of illegal immigration in added costs to schools, hospitals and the criminal justice system.

    Mr. Levy, a Democrat, was flanked Wednesday by construction union leaders who support his bill. Mr. King, who is a Republican, said the issue cuts across party lines.

    “I don’t know anyone in the country who is more reflecting the view of the American people than Steve Levy, and he does it under terrible abuse, attack and distortion,” Mr. King said. “He is standing up, and I give him credit for doing it.”
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  2. #2
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    Mr. Levy, a co-founder of a national coalition called Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform, said his goal was “to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants.” The concept “will spread like wildfire” and “have a major impact from California to Maine,” he predicted
    And Mr. Levy is a democrat??? Well, at least that party has some on the side of common sense and wants to serve his citizens.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi ... -headlines

    Levy's alliance on immigration
    King, a Republican, endorses Suffolk exec's plan to require contractors to verify workers' eligibility


    BY JAMES T. MADORE
    Newsday Staff Writer

    August 17, 2006

    Flanked by construction union leaders and Rep. Peter King, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy yesterday called on municipalities across the country to replicate his controversial proposal requiring government contractors to verify that their employees are eligible to work in the United States.

    "This type of legislation not only has an impact on us here in Suffolk County, but if the model is followed throughout the nation it can have a major impact from California to Maine," Levy said. "We would ... help stem the flow of illegal immigration across our borders."

    Levy's declaration came only a day after advocates for immigrants filed lawsuits against Hazleton, Pa., and Riverside, N.J., to block ordinances that target undocumented workers by penalizing employers and landlords. The Hazleton suit was brought by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which also has threatened to sue Suffolk if Levy's bill passes the county legislature, where 14 of 18 members told Newsday they support the measure.

    Late yesterday, Levy amended his resolution to include anti-discrimination clauses for workers and job applicants of county contractors. The Central American Refugee Center and other groups had criticized him for omitting such language from the original bill, the first of its kind in the state.

    Lawmakers will hear today from immigrant-rights groups, ministers and leaders of construction unions as the ways and means committee takes up the resolution.

    King (R-Seaford) endorsed the plan by Levy, a Democrat, saying the Bush administration had failed to enforce a 20-year-old law requiring employers to vouch for their workers' legal status.

    King is facing a challenge for re-election from Legis. David Mejias (D-North Massapequa), the first Latino elected to the Nassau Legislature. Levy hasn't yet made an endorsement but won't back King, despite their agreement on this and several other issues, a spokesman said.

    Union leaders representing construction workers said their jobs and wages are being threatened because contractors are hiring the undocumented to avoid paying prevailing wages and benefits.

    Levy lashed out at what he called "opponents" of his bill, including the Long Island Association, the region's largest business group. "We just believe there has been tremendous hypocrisy here," he said, pointing to what he claimed were contradictory statements.

    LIA vice president Mitchell Pally responded that Levy had mistaken for opposition the group's concerns about harsh penalties for businesses and no accommodation for the "good faith" efforts of employers to determine that their workers are legal. Pally said the LIA hadn't yet taken a position on Levy's measure but supports the concept of "requiring employers to ascertain the legal status of their employees."

    The Service Employees International Union, one of the state's most powerful, opposes Levy's proposal. Shirley Aldebol of SEIU Local 32BJ said the bill was "bad for Long Island because it is costly for business and taxpayers, does not ensure that workers will be treated with dignity or paid fair wages."

    In a letter to lawmakers, the Puerto Rican defense fund called Levy's measure "unlawful" because it "infringes on the exclusive federal power over immigration policy." A spokesman for Levy said he would be "undeterred" by the group's threatened lawsuit.
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  4. #4
    Senior Member Reciprocity's Avatar
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    We're hopeing that this spreads across New York State
    “In questions of power…let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” –Thomas Jefferson

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