Council Member Concerned Over Undocumented Workers
Council Member Wants Review Of City Contracts
Posted by: Thomas Hendrick, News Editor

POSTED: 10:49 pm MST February 5, 2010
UPDATED: 10:51 am MST February 6, 2010

DENVER -- A Denver City Council Member says she is concerned that contractors with undocumented workers are being awarded government contracts. The concern comes after a recent audit that revealed that was the case in at least one project.

"There is no procedure at the city to randomly check," said Jeanne Faatz.

Faatz has been talking to the City's attorney about implementing random checks on companies that have been awarded government contracts to see if their workforce is legal. She said the economy adds to the urgency.

"City workers are being furloughed, some of them have been laid off, we're cutting back services to citizens," said Faatz.

Julie Gonzales is an advocate for immigrant rights. She feels the proposed checks will cost taxpayers more money and will unfairly target people.

"We've seen lots of instances of profiling where somebody says 'Hmm, that person looks like they might be undocumented, so I'm not going to hire them'," said Gonzales.

"Federal and state law indicate that employers only hire legal workers. Certainly the city ought to be held to no lesser standard," said Faatz.

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