http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/01 ... 1_6_06.txt

By: REBECCA BOONE - Associated Press

CALDWELL, Idaho -- County commissioners voted 2-1 Friday to appeal a federal judge's dismissal of their anti-racketeering lawsuit against local businesses accused of hiring illegal aliens.

"My resolve has not wavered. My position has not changed. My belief is America is under attack from within and she must be defended," said Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez, a Republican congressional candidate who spearheaded the effort to recoup money the county says it spends on services for illegal workers.

U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge ruled last month that the county's claimed higher expenses for social services such as indigent medical care, schools and jails were simply the costs of being a government entity.

The lawsuit marked the first time a government tried to use the federal Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act to demand damages from businesses accused of hiring illegal employees. The RICO statutes traditionally have been used to prosecute organized crime.

Commission Chairman Matt Beebe voted against the appeal, saying he doubted the county would win in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"My opinion is that Judge Lodge's dismissal comes down to a number of technicalities," Beebe said. "I have a hard time supporting the resolution in light of those technicalities."

But Commissioner David Ferdinand said he feared Lodge's dismissal could eventually be used as precedent if similar lawsuits were brought by other local governments.

He said appealing the case would clarify what responsibilities counties and the federal government have in paying for medical care and other social services associated with illegal immigration.

"We're not sure what this appeal will do for others," said Ferdinand. "But what it will do for Canyon County is find out once and for all what the federal government will pay and when they will pick up the slack."

The county filed the lawsuit in July against four businesses: Syngenta Seeds, Sorrento Lactalis, Swift Beef and Harris Moran Seed, as well as against the former director of the nonprofit Idaho Migrant Council.

The four companies, which together employ hundreds of people in Canyon County, were accused of knowingly hiring hundreds of illegal immigrants, partly through agreements with worker recruiting companies.

In dismissing the case, Lodge said the county's contention that the hiring of illegal aliens posed a "public nuisance" was not grounded in state law.

Canyon County attorney Howard Foster of Chicago said the appeal would argue that Lodge's decision was wrongly based on the municipal cost recovery rule, which states that governments cannot attempt to recoup the cost of being a government.

Albert Pacheco, the former director of the Idaho Migrant Council and the only individual named in the lawsuit, said he expected the federal appeals court to reach the same decision as the district judge.

"I would hope that the residents of Canyon County would be outraged, that their tax dollars and our tax dollars would continue to be spent on a matter that is baseless," Pacheco said.

Syngenta Seeds spokeswoman Anne Burt said the company was "disappointed with their decision to prolong this."

"We feel that Judge Lodge's ruling was clear," Burt said. "But we will continue to vigorously defend ourselves."

Syngenta has operated in Idaho for more than 90 years, she said, and its labor practices comply with state, federal and local laws.

"I guess the commissioners have to do what they think is right, but in this case they are just wrong," said David Chambers, the vice president and general counsel for Sorrento Lactalis.

Richard Leasia, the Los Angeles, Calif.-based attorney representing Harris Moran Seed, said he was also disappointed that the board had decided to appeal the ruling.

Canyon County is largely agricultural and many of its Latino residents work in that industry. About 19 percent of the county's 131,000 residents identify themselves as Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.