http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3933816

Highland says 'no' to undocumented

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun

HIGHLAND - The new message from City Hall is that contractors seeking to ink deals with the city had better make sure they avoid hiring illegal immigrants.
Cities like Highland don't have much muscle to flex when it comes to illegal immigration. But they can take a stand which is what the City Council did Tuesday night by approving a resolution that demands firms doing business with Highland do not knowingly give jobs to undocumented workers.

"Basically, we don't have any enforcement rights or enforcement privileges, but I think it will put the federal government on notice that we plan to obey the law," Councilwoman Jody Scott said after she and her colleagues adopted the resolution by a unanimous vote.

Scott requested a resolution addressing this issue at a May council meeting.

The resolution is not completely toothless, as Mayor Ross Jones noted before Tuesday evening's meeting. It makes clear that city officials can declare a breach of contract and move to terminate any deal with a business that knowingly hires an illegal immigrant.

The resolution also puts the council on record with the viewpoint that strict enforcement of laws such as the 1986 Immigration Control and Reform Act would preserve job opportunities for native-born workers and legal residents.

This year, illegal immigration has been one of the hottest issues in the nation. And many Inland Empire Republicans running for office during the recent primary election made their interest in fighting illegal immigration a central plank of their platforms. Activists on the other side, who favor legal status for undocumented immigrants, took to the streets in springtime rallies, most notably the May 1 "Day Without an Immigrant" protests.

Highland council members, meanwhile, have not been shy about using resolutions to weigh in on matters beyond city limits.

In January, the council adopted a resolution that forbids city staffers from using public funds to travel to San Francisco on city business. The move was Highland's way of firing a pro-military shot at the City by the Bay in response to approval by voters there of a symbolic ballot measure that objected to military recruiting at public schools.

Highland's new resolution specifically cites the Immigration Control and Reform Act, which created penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. The law also allowed undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before 1982 to seek legal status.

Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that in recent years the federal government has become increasingly likely to seek criminal penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants.

Kice acknowledged that the federal government's previous strategy of relying on administrative fines to penalize employers did not effectively deter people from hiring undocumented immigrants.

"Many of these employers treated these fines as the cost of doing business," Kice said.