Thread: FL: County To Discuss Checks On Illegal Workers

County To Discuss Checks On Illegal Workers
By JIM KONKOLY

Feb 6, 2009
In a workshop on Tuesday, the Highlands County Commissioners will discuss a request for mandatory use of two federal programs to check the legal employment status of people hired by the county and by companies with a county contract.

The request comes from the American Party of Florida.

In a written report to the five commissioners, Rick Helms, the county's assistant administrator, recommended using E-Verify to check only the work status of new hires by the county.

E-Verify is a free Internet service run by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

Helms wrote that enforcement of an ordinance requiring companies doing business with the county to use E-Verify would "be problematic for staff."

"This will require," he added, "additional initial review of all bids, proposals and responses to RFPs (requests for proposals) and RFQs (requests for quotes) with interim monitoring of and reporting by vendors providing goods or services."

If companies are required to use E-Verify in order to do business with the county, Helms wrote, the rule should apply to contracts for $500,000 or more.

Bill Youngman, an American Party member who has been asking the commissioners to consider E-Verify for several months, said he was disappointed by Helms's recommendations.

"Probably that $500,000 figure would make the program 100 percent completely useless," Youngman said. "How many times in 2008 did they (county) have a bid out for $500,000?"

Youngman said he and other American Party members are looking forward to Tuesday's discussion with the county commission. Exploring all aspects of the issue "is what workshops are for," he said.

Helms's recommendation did not mention the American Party's second request, that the county and companies doing business with the county enroll in the federal IMAGE program.

A program of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), IMAGE includes use of E-Verify plus other requirements, including training for employers on detecting fraudulent documents, an annual audit of the I-9 forms to document legal work status, and a tip line for employees to report suspected employment of illegal immigrants.

Youngman said the intent of requiring E-Verify and IMAGE is to discourage illegal immigration by cutting out employment opportunities.

"I think if we take away the work of the illegal aliens in the United States, they all go home," he said. "If we take away the work of illegal aliens in Highlands County, they'll go home.

"Work is the magnet holding illegal immigrants in the United States."

Barbara Stewart, chairman of the county commissioners, said she is not familiar with IMAGE and wants to consider all information provided about it.

About the issue of illegal immigration, Stewart said, "I think the county does need to be concerned with that, because we're the ones who are responsible for providing a lot of services, and in addition, it is our local workforce that ends up suffering."

Stewart said she does not know if commissioners will consider the IMAGE program, but will definitely look into E-Verify.

"I think it's important to remember that for us - meaning all employers - it is illegal to hire people who cannot legally work here," she said. "Even if you don't have E-Verify, it's still illegal to hire people who are here illegally. This is just another means by which to verify that people can legally work."

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