Thread: Beaufort Co's resolution calls on better enforcement

http://www.islandpacket.com/front/story ... 7422c.html

County's resolution calls on better enforcement of immigration
BY GINNY SKALSKI
The Island Packet
Published Monday, December 4, 2006
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The Beaufort County Council has yet to decide what the county's role should be in deterring businesses from hiring illegal immigrants. But the council is unanimous on the role federal government should play.

The council voted 10-0 last week to approve a resolution that calls on the federal government to strongly enforce immigration rules and to strengthen the laws regulating immigration.

The resolution is being forwarded to President Bush, South Carolina's congressional delegation, Gov. Mark Sanford, the S.C. General Assembly and other local office holders.


View the Beaufort County Council resolution (you need to click on the link above if you want to read this)



It says that the volume of letters and e-mails that council members have received about the issue demonstrates that something must be done to enforce and improve federal immigration laws.

Councilman Bill McBride introduced the resolution last week after the council's closed meeting with attorneys to discuss the proposed Lawful Employment Ordinance. The ordinance would punish businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

Following the closed session, McBride read the resolution aloud to the audience of more than 120 people, most of whom attended to see whether the council would move the ordinance forward.

The crowd erupted in applause after McBride read the following line from the resolution:

"The citizens of this state and nation and the citizens of Beaufort County are concerned, worried, upset, frustrated, and downright mad that President Bush and the executive branch of the United States government has and is totally failing in the enforcement of the Immigration Act as it relates to the influx of illegal aliens."

The council voted 10-0 last week to approve a resolution that calls on the federal government to strongly enforce immigration rules and to strengthen the laws regulating immigration.

What a crock. Covering their butts I see.

Looks like the Beaufort Regional and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton chambers of commerce, the Hilton Head Area Hospitality Association, the home builders associations of the Hilton Head area and of the Lowcountry and the Latin American Council of South Carolina have been busy.

They don't want to cut Hilton Head Island's endless supply of slave labor. Move all the illegals/kids to HHI and see how the elites feel then.

http://www.islandpacket.com/front/story ... 0019c.html

Committee to take last stab at illegal-immigration ordinance
BY GINNY SKALSKI
The Island Packet
Published Wednesday, December 6, 2006
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The Beaufort County Council is expected to make the final adjustments today to a proposed illegal-immigration ordinance before deciding next week whether to give final approval to the controversial measure.

The council's Community Services and Public Safety Committee will meet in closed session beginning at 4 p.m. today to discuss a proposal that would allow the county to revoke a company's business license for knowingly employing illegal immigrants.

The closed meeting at the county administration building at 100 Ribaut Road in Beaufort is scheduled to last about two hours. The committee is scheduled to meet in open session beginning at 6 p.m. to discuss any changes to the draft ordinance, and it isn't required to take public comments during the meeting.

Although the full council is expected to attend today's meeting, only five council members are able to cast votes on any recommendations the committee makes. Those members are committee chairman Bill McBride and vice chairwoman Starletta Hairston, both of whom support the proposed ordinance.

The other committee members are Mark Generales, Herbert Glaze and Margaret Griffin. Generales and Glaze are among the majority of council members who have said they would oppose the measure at the final vote if they weren't satisfied that legal concerns had been addressed.

But any legal advice the council receives from McNair Law Firm, which was hired to review the proposal, will likely not be made public.

Council Chairman Weston Newton has said the firm can't publicly present its findings because freedom of information laws would then require all future discussions between the county and its lawyers to be public. That could be a problem, he said, if the ordinance was challenged in court.

A spokesman for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national civil rights group, said last week that the group would challenge the ordinance in court if it's approved.

The proposal, scheduled for a final vote by the full council Dec. 11, encourages businesses to verify Social Security numbers and other personal information on the federal government's free Web-based program called the Basic Pilot Program. A business could have its license revoked if the county finds out it's employing illegal workers and it doesn't participate in the program.

Seven local organizations representing homebuilders, restaurants, hotels and other businesses are urging the Beaufort County Council to reject a proposed illegal-immigration ordinance, saying the measure is unconstitutional and could cause legal businesses to close.

Supporters say the ordinance, if passed, will discourage businesses from hiring illegal workers.

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/ ... 1003c.html

County weakens immigration ordinance
BY GINNY SKALSKI, The Island Packet
Published Thursday, December 7, 2006

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The Beaufort County Council stripped two controversial provisions from its proposed illegal immigration ordinance Wednesday, opting instead for a plan that does little more than what's already allowed under the county's business-license ordinance.
Web Extras
Beaufort County proposed illegal immigration ordinance. (26.5 kB)

The council also decided to schedule a special meeting during the last week of December so it can cast a final vote before six new council members are sworn in Jan. 2.

Had the provisions remained, businesses would have been encouraged to verify Social Security numbers on the federal government's free Web-based Basic Pilot Program.

Additionally, residents would have been allowed to lodge complaints against businesses suspected of employing undocumented workers.

"It took out a lot of the things that did not conform with federal law according to our information or our advice," said councilwoman Starletta Hairston, who proposed the measure.

The changes -- which pared the ordinance down from seven pages to four -- were made after the council hired the McNair Law Firm to address any legal concerns.

The ordinance would let the county revoke a company's business license if it's found to knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

But the county might already have that power under its existing business-license ordinance.

As it stands, business owners agree not to employ undocumented workers when they sign their business-license application. By signing the form, they also agree to allow county officials to inspect business data. County officials have said it's unclear whether that means employment verification documents such as I-9s.

The draft ordinance unanimously approved Wednesday by the council's Community Services and Public Safety Committee makes it clear the county can audit businesses and review I-9s and other documents to verify whether employees are legal. It also spells out the procedure businesses would have to follow if the county is unable to provide those documents.

"All we have done today is take federal law and say, 'If you comply with federal law, you keep your business license,' " council chairman Weston Newton said after the meeting.

Two of the major concerns cited by opponents in the business community are that the government's Web-based pilot program was flawed and that businesses might file unfounded complaints against competitors.

Local immigration attorney Melissa Azallion, who is representing about seven businesses opposing the measure, said removing the two provisions is a step in the right direction, but said she's reserving judgment on the revised ordinance.

"We've obviously been given a substantially different draft," said Azallion who plans to "convene with the business coalition and formulate our opinion and reaction in the next couple days."

The council met with attorneys in closed session for more than two hours Wednesday before discussing the changes in open session. Initially, Newton recommended council send the revised ordinance back to first reading when it meets Monday.

"This is a whole different body of law than we had before," Newton said.

But a majority on the committee decided the ordinance should come back to the council on second reading so there would be enough time to squeeze in a final vote before the newly-elected council is sworn in next month.

If adopted, the ordinance would go into effect Jan. 1, 2008.