Thread: Residents might face immigration check for relocation benefi

Residents might face immigration check for relocation benefits
Edythe Jensen
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 1, 2007 04:33 PM

Chandler City Councilman Jeff Weninger is calling for more thorough investigations of immigration status before the city pays housing relocation benefits to people displaced by municipal building projects.

Weninger put his suggestion in a memo to fellow council members Wednesday. "I believe it is imperative that we do everything within our authority to reduce the cost of illegal immigration on our taxpayers," he wrote.

The city already requires those who receive relocation assistance to be legal residents but does not independently verify the status, the councilman said. No public discussion or vote on the proposal has been set.

Benefits include moving expenses and rent differential stipends for up to three years.

Weninger, the owner of several restaurants, said a new state law will require him to check the immigration status of his employees. "Perhaps this same system could be used to determine whether renters of the property that we acquire are eligible for relocation benefits," he said.

City spokesman Jim Phipps said there are no relocations pending and that people living in six houses purchased for the new City Hall site have already been moved. But more are possible as Chandler continues to redevelop its downtown.

In 2003, more than 100 residents around Chandler High School, predominantly Hispanic renters in multifamily units, were relocated by the school district and were eligible for up to $5,250 in rental stipends.

Alberto Esparza, founder and president of Chandler-based Si Se Puede! Foundation, said the relocated residents were happy with the assistance and many remain active in the community. But he's opposed to this proposal.

"If you bring immigration into this, you are going to have problems," Esparza said. "They should put faces on people; these are families with children. Parents work three or four jobs to pay the rent and the children are going to school. They pay taxes."

Weninger's idea has the potential to stir emotions on both sides of the immigration debate.

"I applaud Councilman Weninger for taking on this important issue," said state Sen. Jay Tibshraeny, a former Chandler mayor. "It's very much in line with what voters said repeatedly that they want addressed."

Jose Garcia, a longtime resident and organizer of city cultural festivals, said Weninger's suggestion - and the new state law regulating employee checks - may not stand up to legal challenges.

However, City Attorney Michael House said Chandler already requires written certification of legal residency from people who get housing relocation assistance and "under federal law we could have a more comprehensive verification program."

Councilman Bob Caccamo said he's not likely to support Weninger's suggestion without further research. "Is there a problem? If we're not getting truthful responses (from renters) we need to look at a better way of doing things, but I don't know that yet," he said.

Weninger is getting vocal backing from state Rep. Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican. "It's protecting the taxpayers from fraud," Pearce said. "Cities . . . should have been doing this a long time ago."

Pearce was behind a new state law that threatens business owners with license revocation if they knowingly hire someone who is not legally in the country.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chan ... e0802.html

Chandler City Councilman Jeff Weninger is calling for more thorough investigations of immigration status before the city pays housing relocation benefits to people displaced by municipal building projects.

...OMG! Common sense, at last. AND upholding the rule of law by recognizing that illegal really is illegal?

Parents work three or four jobs to pay the rent

Now they claim they work 3 to 4 jobs to pay the rent, and they still need subsidies? 3-4 jobs???? Most probably work one job and if they do even work 2, it's probably because, like my husband, they choose to work 2 so the wife/girlfriend can stay home with the kids. The illegals around my neighborhood are home often enough, they aren't working any harder than anyone else and sure aren't working 120-160 hours per week.

really, these people must be aliens from another planet altogether, I have not seen such simple common sense decissions in years from local officals!!


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