Thread: Mission Viejo Backs Laws To Weed Out Aliens

Mission Viejo's hiring ordinance


Background: A Homeland Security verification program known as the Basic Pilot Program allows employers to verify an individual's legal right to work in the United States.

How the city's plan would work: All new city employees and people working under new contracts with the city would be required to go through the verification process.

Next:The plan has passed an initial vote. On March 19, the City Council will vote again. If approved, it will become effective July 1.

Thursday, March 8, 2007


Mission Viejo backs law to weed out the undocumented

The city will take a final vote on a measure requiring the use of Homeland Security verification.
By AMANDA GLOWISH, VALERIA GODINES and DENA BUNIS
The Orange County Register
Mission Viejo has joined the national immigration debate, adopting an ordinance requiring its employees and contractors to participate in a federal program meant to weed out unauthorized workers.

"We will be setting an example for all those in the community," said Mayor Pro Tem John Paul Ledesma, who put the ordinance on the agenda. The council unanimously approved the measure on its first reading on Monday. If it's approved on a second reading, it will go into effect July 1.

The city's decision would require participation in the Department of Homeland Security's Basic Pilot Program, which is free and Internet-based. It requires verification that city employees and those contracted with the city are legally authorized to work in the United States.

Ledesma said he introduced the ordinance after a resident approached him about illegal workers in the city. In February, he introduced a no-trespassing ordinance as a response to an influx of day laborers in the city.

"It is our responsibility to show we believe in the rule of law and respect," said Ledesma. "We should do as much as we can on the City Council level."

The police department in Orange and the city of Santa Ana also use the program, but the cities do not require contractors to use the system.

In 2006 about 50 contracts were approved by the Mission Viejo City Council, according to Karen Hammen, city clerk.

Mission Viejo's ordinance drew criticism from advocates for undocumented immigrants.

"It's an anti-immigrant ordinance and it's anti-business as well," said Ana Maria Patino, an attorney and Latina activist who lives in Laguna Beach. "(Undocumented workers) are not going to work for these contractors and if they're the kind of business that relies on a lot of undocumented workers because they can't get other people to do those jobs, they will lose business."

But it also drew support.

Nancy Cho, president of Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce, said some larger business in the city, such as Unisys and Mission Hospital, already have similar efforts in place.

"I think it's great that the city is starting this," said Cho.

The Basic Pilot Program began in 1996 as an experiment in seven states. Under legislation authored by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, it was expanded to all 50 states in 2004.

Participation is voluntary and as of this week 14,834 employers were participating, including 247 federal, state and local government offices. In California, 1,990 businesses were participating. More than 30 Los Angeles County agencies use the system as well.

Under the program, after someone is hired, an employer enters the worker's Social Security number onto a database and it is sent to the Social Security Administration, which verifies that the number is a valid one. If a match cannot be made, the name and number are then checked through Department of Homeland Security databases.

The program has been criticized by the National Immigration Law Center in California, which argues that outdated federal databases prevent some people from being approved for work.

Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto, an advocate for undocumented immigrants, said in a statement that Mission Viejo's action just "further confirms the need for a comprehensive immigration reform.

"This is a punitive measure that will do little to diminish the undocumented population," Soto said.

Contact the writer: 949-454-7363 or aglowish@ocregister.com




http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ho ... 608689.php

This is good I think every time we win a city's cooperation in a border state it carries more weight even than in other areas.

Not only that maybe our congress will take notice and see what cities are trying to do to enforce our laws, HINT, HINT, congress we want our laws enforced not Amnesty

For those of you who don't know, Orange Co. borders LA Co. This is exciting!
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O.C. city to put contractors on spot in immigration law enforcement
Mission Viejo poised to enact ordinance requiring them to verify legal status of employees.
By Jennifer Delson
Times Staff Writer

March 17, 2007

With the federal government stalled on national immigration reform, a handful of local governments around the country are enacting laws designed to discourage the hiring of illegal immigrants.

Mission Viejo is poised to become the latest city to try to crack down on illegal immigration. Council members on Monday are expected to approve one of the nation's first local ordinances that would require city contractors to check their workers' immigration status with a government verification system.

The city will probably become a model for others, according to advocates for immigration law enforcement.

"These things will soon spring up all across the country," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "Local governments are tired of the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration. Local governments can't deport anyone but … what they can do is regulate businesses that serve as a magnet for illegal immigrants."

The Mission Viejo effort differs from those of about two dozen local governments because it seeks to control the hiring practices of local businesses.

If approved, the Mission Viejo ordinance would require city contractors to participate in the Department of Homeland Security's Basic Pilot system, a free Internet service that tells employers if an applicant is eligible to work in the U.S.

It also requires the city to check the immigration status of its employees. The ordinance was unanimously approved on a first reading this month, with the backing of the Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce.

Beginning in July, contractors who do not participate in the program would lose their city contracts.

Monitoring contractors was a natural for Mission Viejo, said Councilman Lance Maclean. The city of 98,000 people, which employs 107, uses contractors for landscaping, trash removal and street sweeping. The City Council last year approved about 50 contracts.

Councilman John Paul Ledesma said he conceived the new law after a resident told him about the Basic Pilot system. The resident had fought a day laborer site in Lake Forest and had urged Mission Viejo to pass an ordinance to limit loitering in an effort to clean up a similar site.

"We have the obligation to uphold the law," said Ledesma, who is running for the 71st Assembly district in June. "We should not be part of the problem" of illegal immigration.

Some Orange County Latinos said they are concerned about the use of a government database for checking immigration status, contending that it's outdated and has flagged legal workers. They also said the system encourages racial profiling.

"It's bad for business. It's bad for the economy of the United States," said Ana Maria Patino, an activist in Laguna Beach. "We need to figure out that we need these immigrants to keep the economy going."

The Los Angeles-based National Immigration Law Center opposes measures such as the one in Mission Viejo.

"Mission Viejo has no expertise to do what it's doing," said Mariaelena Hincapie, an attorney at the center. "We are in the midst of national immigration reform. Some federal eligibility verification system will take place this year. Local governments should wait for the federal program."

Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the Basic Pilot program has worked well for most participants and the number of employers using it now totals about 15,000.

Its use is not required by the federal government, although last year Congress unsuccessfully proposed making it mandatory for all employers in the country.

"We feel it works great," Rummery said. "You can use it and it's free. You won't invest in a worker other than one who is legally in this country."

As few as three cities in the U.S. require their contractors to participate in Basic Pilot. Two other cities that recently approved similar ordinances include Inola, Okla., and Hazelton, Penn., where a broader ordinance is being challenged in court on the grounds that local government cannot enforce federal law.

Georgia and Oklahoma have passed laws for state contractors. Cherokee County, Georgia, and Beaufort County in South Carolina have approved the rule for their contractors.

David Adams, chief executive officer of Lookout Services in Houston, Texas, which helps employers meet federal immigration guidelines, expects more cities will participate in Basic Pilot to check employees, contractors or both.

He questions whether the program can handle the increased workload but thinks that more participants will send a message to Washington, D.C.

"They're going to know that cities have had it," he said. "They're just fed up."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... ?track=rss

Jean this is GREAT news!!!!