http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10 ... 0_6_06.txt

Escondido rental ban violators may be difficult to document

By: DAVID FRIED - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ----- Now that the city has passed a highly controversial ordinance barring landlords from renting to illegal immigrants, who's going to determine which tenants are legal residents and which aren't? According to federal immigration agencies, the answer is: No one.

Federal immigration officials said this week they have no programs in place that could help the city support the ordinance.

Escondido officials say the new law was designed to keep the city out of the immigration business and leave verifying a person's legal residency status up to the federal government.

But there may be a hitch to that plan.

As it stands, the federal systems available to verify immigration documents are not set up to provide such information for cities making general inquiries.

Under the rental ban that the City Council passed this week, landlords alleged to be violating the law will be asked to provide immigration documents for the tenants in question. The city will pass those numbers along to the federal government, which will verify the Social Security numbers or other documentation for the city.

Only if the federal immigration officials say the documents are not valid will the city step in and require landlords to remove the tenants or face penalties, including fines of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.

The ordinance, passed by a 3-2 margin, goes back to the council on Oct. 18 for a final vote and would take effect 30 days later.

Currently, local and state agencies can check the immigration status of individuals through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, a computer-based process that returns almost instantaneous responses in most cases. The program is run by the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services agency.

But the program is available only for agencies that need to verify a person's immigration status before it provides housing assistance, food stamps or other public benefits that are off-limits to illegal immigrants, according to Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman for the immigration service.

"As of right now, we don't offer that (general service) for cities or landlords," Rummery said. "It's not part of our program. We are exploring expanding that."

Whether inquiries related to rental matters will be provided remains to be seen, she said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the investigative branch of the Department of Homeland Security, handles requests from law enforcement agencies, but does not verify status of individuals for local governments or employers, according to an agency spokeswoman.

Escondido officials admit they do not know the ins and outs of how to go about identifying the documents they plan to request.

City Attorney Jeffrey Epp said the verification agency that the city will use and other specific enforcement details will be "developed in the implementation" of the ban, and will not be ready for the council before the next meeting.

But the verification system is key to the Escondido law because it keeps the city out of the immigration business and could help the ban withstand any legal challenges, according to Epp's analysis of the ordinance.

The entitlement verification method operated by federal immigration officials was created as part of a major overhaul of the country's welfare programs in 1996, and has been used ever since.

For example, public housing agencies regularly use the system to verify citizenship or legal residency from applicants for Section 8, the federal government's cornerstone subsidized housing program, according to the Fair Housing Council of San Diego.

The federal agency also provides a similar verification service for employers who register for the federal program and want to verify the immigration status of people they recently hired.

But allowing government agencies and employers to search an individual's immigration status for unauthorized purposes could be determined as violating that person's privacy, according to other immigration officials.

Rummery said she did not know if the current policy for verifying immigrant status was based on privacy issues, but added, "we're always very sensitive to the sanctity of private information, because we (the agency) are subject to the federal Privacy Act."

The 1974 privacy law limits what information the government can collect, how it can be used and who has access to it.

Landlords say they are also at a loss as to how Escondido could verify the information it plans to demand of them.

For a fee, San Diego County Apartment Association offers landlords background checks that include credit reports, criminal record and rental history. And for no charge, landlords can also check an applicant's name against a list of individuals suspected of financing terrorist activities that the U.S. Department of the Treasury maintains.

But that's about all landlords can do right now, according to Robert Pinnegar, executive director of the apartment association, a trade group representing 2,800 property owners and managers throughout the county.

"It's not that we're opposed to doing these searches," Pinnegar said. "We do them every day. But there's no current database (available) to search for this information."

This is related so I'll post here also.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10 ... 0_6_06.txt
Sam Abed reports sharp spike in business, thanks to supporters

By: ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- A boycott of City Councilman Sam Abed's gas station by people upset by his vote on a controversial new ordinance has apparently backfired, as some supporters of the ordinance drive long distances to fill their tanks at the business.

Abed reported getting long lines of customers in front of the eight pumps at his Mobil station on the northeast corner of East Valley Parkway and Midway Drive on Friday morning. Combined with higher-than-usual business activity the day before, the heavy patronage has caused the station's business to spike upward, he said.

"If it keeps up, we're going to run out of gas," said Abed. "We normally sell about $5,000 a day. We have three shifts. And we did $6,000 (worth of sales) today in the first shift. So we'll probably have $11,000 to $12,000 (worth of) sales today. That's about 225 percent up."

The upswing followed picketing that began at the gas station Thursday. The protest was organized by people opposed to a new ordinance that would prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.

A City Council majority approved the ordinance Wednesday night after listening to more than two hours of comments from people on both sides of the controversial issue.

The fact that Abed cast one of the three "yes" votes for the ordinance led its opponents to target his business. Those organizing the protest have said they plan to continue the effort until Oct. 18, when a final vote on the ordinance is scheduled.

A visit to the councilman's station around 11 a.m. Friday found no pickets in sight and just a handful of cars in front of the business's pumps, where regular unleaded gasoline was priced at $2.55 a gallon. Special unleaded was going for $2.79 a gallon, and super unleaded cost $2.89 a gallon.

Several of those busy filling up their tanks said they sought Abed's business out, in a show of support for the councilman and to counter the protest.

"I normally don't shop here; I normally shop downtown," said customer and Escondido resident Franz Tewksbury. "I'm very much against illegals," said Tewksbury. "Illegals ---- not immigrants. If they're legal, that's fine. And if (people) are going to protest, then I'm going to protest the illegals."

Inside the station, more than two dozen handwritten notes were taped up around a cashier station. The messages included "thank you's" and encouraging words for Abed and some writers indicated they had gone well out of their way to patronize the councilman's station.

"We drove from El Cajon to support you," said a note signed by Pat Deckow and Barbara Channell. "Go Sam!"

Abed said the notes were a sampling of the upswing in business, which he said also brought customers from Temecula, Ramona, Encinitas and other communities that are a long drive from Escondido.

The increased activity level first became noticeable after he was a guest on Roger Hedgecock's KOGO-AM 600 talk radio show Thursday, the councilman said.

While he was on the program, Abed said, people phoned in to offer him their encouragement, urge listeners to support his business and provide its address. The Hedgecock show's associate producer, Megan Macarena, confirmed that Friday.

Abed said the response demonstrates that the controversial ordinance is striking a major chord with the general public.

"It's not about how much business we've got," he said about his gas station. "It's about how deep the problem of illegal aliens (is). And the silent majority are really feeling strongly about the illegal immigrants in our county and our nation. I had one person who disagreed with me this morning. But I had about 300 people who told me they support me."

While he talked, customers headed to the cashier's window kept stopping to interrupt and introduce themselves to the councilman. They included Ramona resident Leonard Lacaze, who told Abed he was "a true American."

"I didn't need any gas," Lacaze said. "I just wanted to show my support."

Wayne Rock said he, too, drove across town to buy gas at the councilman's gas station.

"Are you Sam?" Rock said to Abed. "I wanted to thank you for doing the right thing."

At about 5:30 p.m., five protesters blocked a sidewalk and began throwing cups at passing cars near the gas station, but when police responded to the scene, the protesters had already left, Lt. Mark Wrisley of the Escondido Police Department said. According to witnesses, the five individuals weren't affiliated with the main group of demonstrators leading the boycott, he said.

No cars were reported damaged by the cups, and no arrests were made, Wrisley said.