Thread: Employment plan passes second read

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_ne ... 1855c.html

Employment plan passes second read
County Council awaiting legal opinion before approval
Published Tue, Nov 14, 2006

By JEREMY HSIEH
The Beaufort Gazette


In an 8-2 vote, the Beaufort County Council passed second reading of a proposed ordinance that penalizes businesses employing illegal immigrants. Monday's approval came despite a groundswell of opposition from the Hispanic and business communities during a public hearing on the matter.

Most of the council members said their vote at the third and final reading will be contingent on an independent lawyer's analysis of the Lawful Employment Ordinance's legality. The proposal threatens businesses found to be employing illegal immigrants with suspended business licenses.

There was consensus on the council and in the crowd that illegal immigration is a problem in Beaufort County but discord over the county's role in addressing it.

The council meeting was packed beyond capacity with dozens of people standing for the entire five-hour meeting and others standing in the hallway outside. More than 30 people spoke during Monday's public hearing, a majority of whom said they opposed the ordinance.

"What we have here is a cancer that the federal government has diagnosed benign but has now become malignant," Councilman Herbert Glaze said during the meeting.

Council Chairman Weston Newton and Councilman Dick Stewart voted against the measure. Newton said that without an independent analysis of the measure's legality, which County Administrator Gary Kubic said was in the works, moving forward would be premature. In response to criticism that the council was failing to uphold the law and that waiting for a legal opinion was a delay tactic, Newton was unapologetic.

Passing an ordinance of ambiguous legality could "expose taxpayers to a liability that there is no insurance for," Newton said of what could happen if the county were sued. He added that in the one court precedent for a similar ordinance in Hazleton, Pa., the law was blocked by a federal court order pending trial.

Stewart voted against the ordinance for several reasons. He said the businesses trying to comply in good faith with the ordinance could still potentially suffer under it. The federal Basic Pilot Program, on which the ordinance relies to verify the immigration status of employees, may be flawed, Stewart said, echoing several speakers' concerns over its reliability and accuracy.

He said companies, such as the contractor the county used to widen U.S. 278, may find it too cumbersome to verify all of its employees' immigration statuses and simply stop doing business in the county.

Of unscrupulous businessmen and lawbreakers, Stewart said, "This ordinance will not change the behavior of those people."

Stewart also said discussion of the issue reminded him of anti-Semitism, racial profiling of young black men and of past politicians using the law as a blanket justification for unjust acts.

"There are racial overtones in these discussions. It is unacceptable," he said.

Council members Mark Generales, Gerald Dawson, Starletta Hairston, Skeet Von Harten, Bill McBride, Margaret Griffin, Frank Brafman and Glaze voted for the ordinance. However, Generales, Dawson, Von Harten, Glaze and Brafman said their votes at the third and final reading may change depending on what the independent legal analysis yields.

"I'll vote for it on second reading," Von Harten said. "But I have a lot of questions, and if they're not answered I won't vote for it (at third reading)."

Hairston, who proposed the ordinance, dismissed claims of racism and a personal agenda.

"This is about economics ... this is about legality. I don't have a racist bone in my body. I've lived through it. It don't feel good," she said.

A draft of the ordinance is available at the county Web site, bcgov.net.

Contact Jeremy Hsieh at 986-5548 or jhsieh@beaufortgazette.com.

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/opinions ... 1868c.html

Community needs immigration ordinance
Published Tue, Nov 14, 2006

In the Nov. 9 Beaufort Gazette, County Council chairman Wes Newton, whom I respect, asked, "Why not wait?" to act on a proposed ordinance to curb illegal immigration. Answer: We already have waited too long.
Time is of the essence. Our local, state and federal governments have been comatose on this escalating crisis for more than

20 years. Locally we suffer a vacuum of leadership on the issue. The Oct. 24 Gazette quotes a study showing that South Carolina's foreign-born population grew by 47.8 percent from 2000-2006, the biggest increase in the nation. I suspect our fast-growing county got more than its share. Illegals come here disproportionately because we lag behind others in passing and enforcing necessary laws. It is impossible to control local and state budgets for education, law enforcement, emergency healthcare and social services if we continue failing to control illegal immigration.

The council's community service and public safety committees, the sheriff and county administrator could benefit by considering how Mecklenburg County, N.C., and Maricopa County, Ariz., deal with this problem.

The rule of law and our local taxpayers should not be sacrificed on the alter of apathy, taxpayer-subsidized, low-cost labor for corporations and partisan pandering to a burgeoning unlawful population. Support the "Lawful Employment Ordinance."

C.H. "Sonny" Von Harten

GO BEAUFORT!!

GO! GO! GO!

DO NOT STOP!!

FULL SPEED AHEAD!!

Added to home Page
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=1697