Thread: Sandwich voters tackle immigration

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/sa ... ters24.htm

September 24, 2006

Sandwich voters tackle immigration
By GEORGE BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER
SANDWICH - It's the nation's political hot potato and tomorrow night Sandwich voters will decide whether they want to grab hold or pass it on.

Selectmen want the town to become the first municipality in the state to pass a law targeting illegal immigrants - not the individuals, but the businesses who hire them.

Special legislation, which requires town meeting and legislative approval, proposes to revoke, suspend or deny a license to any business found to hire unauthorized workers by federal authorities. Selectmen, on the advice of the town's lawyer, removed a proposal to impose a $1,000 fine because fines are covered in federal immigration law and town fines would likely prompt a legal challenge.

Recent pleas from human rights and immigration advocates to nix the plan were rejected. Yesterday six clergy from three of the town's churches gathered to urge Sandwich residents to embrace those ''authorized with documents, or struggling to achieve them,'' but stopped short of telling parishioners how to vote.

''When voting on warrant articles, though, ever consider the full picture - who we are to each other and God,'' states a letter signed by clergy from Corpus Christi, St. John's and First Church of Christ.

''Our greatest fear is the fear,'' said the Rev. John H. Thomas, emeritus rector of St. John's Episcopal Church.

In a town where about 97 percent of residents are white, people of color already raise eyebrows, said Jacqueline Fields, co-chairwoman of the Barnstable County Human Rights Commission, who spoke yesterday at the clergy's press conference at Corpus Christi.

A young woman of color and her husband, a doctor at Cape Cod Hospital, recently told her that while they like the town, her family ''does get funny looks,'' Fields said.

National support cited
Emboldened by supportive e-mails and letters from across the country, the majority of selectmen have not wavered in their stance. Selectman Adam Chaprales, who initially voted for the legislation, has since rescinded his support.

''I know there are people who would like to couch this as a human-rights issue to divert attention from the legal issue we're dealing with here,'' said Selectman Douglas Dexter, the official who first proposed the local initiative in June.

Local businesses - especially those working in building trades - have told selectmen they can't compete against contractors who hire illegal foreign workers, he said.

''If you can get past all the hysteria, name-calling and threats of lawsuits, you will see that this article is an attempt on our part to fulfill one of our primary obligations to the community,'' Dexter said. ''We feel we have a duty to protect honest businesses and homeowners in Sandwich from companies that use unfair and illegal business practices. We are asking the voters and then the state Legislature to give us the tools to do our job.''

Business owners have been reluctant to speak about the issue publicly. One tourism source said business owners who rely on legal immigrants to staff restaurants and motels are worried that workers won't come here fearing they will be unjustly targeted.

The town welcomes legal immigrants, Dexter said.

Steven Catania, vice president of Catania Group which owns Dan'l Webster Inn in Sandwich, brings in about six foreign workers on H2b visas to staff the busy tourist season.

''We go out of our way not to hire anyone who doesn't have proper documentation,'' he said.

Employers are required to keep I-9 forms on file for all employees documenting they are United States citizens or legal foreign workers.

Catania, who is a member of the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said the chamber's position is to ''strongly endorse people following the laws of the country.''

The Catania Group, which operates other restaurants and resorts on the Cape, believes immigration reform and enforcement is needed at the federal level.

Enforcement key factor
The Sandwich initiative and others like it are born out of frustration with the failure of Congress to deal with a flood of illegal immigrants crossing the border, said Jessica Vaughan, senior policy analyst for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think-tank that supports better enforcement of immigration laws.

Selectmen had the legislation drafted by the town's attorney to avoid a protracted legal fight like the one under way in Hazelton, Pa. That city wants to fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants $1,000.

Putting Sandwich at risk of a costly suit is something that's already part of the opposition's argument.

''It's an article that can't help us and it's an article that can only hurt us,'' said Frederick Watt, a Sandwich resident who specializes in immigration law in New Bedford.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has already sent a letter to the town that all but promises a legal challenge, will use its vast resources to fight the legislation, Watt said.

In an e-mail, Dexter called the ACLU's letter extortion.

''While protecting the right of employers to operate their businesses illegally, the ACLU has never (to our knowledge) sought to right the wrongs done to honest businesses that have had to close their doors because of unfair competition,'' he wrote.

Largely symbolic
By going through the home-rule petition process, the town's attorney says selectmen will lessen, but not eliminate, the possibility of legal action. If the special legislation is passed by the town and then the Legislature, it becomes state law, but only in Sandwich.

Because no local enforcement is written into the law, it's being called largely symbolic. It requires federal action first, which selectmen concede is rare.

In an e-mail, the town's lawyer said the federal agency responsible for investigating businesses reported sanctions against just three businesses in 2004 - nationwide.

No one knows of a case involving a Sandwich business being prosecuted for hiring illegal workers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that investigates the hiring of undocumented workers, has not responded to a Freedom of Information Act request seeking information on Cape businesses that have been investigated.

Ironically, it's the lack of enforcement and federal reforms that prompts towns like Sandwich to jump into the fray, Vaughan said. The federal government has focused on securing the borders and has largely ignored the burgeoning problem of illegal foreign workers, she said.

Still, the Sandwich legislation might act as a deterrent. ''It sends a message that businesses that don't follow the law are not going to be looked upon favorably,'' Vaughan said.

Some worry the real message is that Sandwich is not a caring town.

''It's just not what our community, our elected officials, should be doing,'' said Shirley Lamson, who has spoken against the proposed legislation. ''Some might want Sandwich to be an exclusive-type town - keep it 97 percent white. That's not what I want my community to be. I believe we should welcome all people.''

George Brennan can be reached at gbrennan@capecodonline.com. Staff writer K.C. Myers contributed to this report.

(Published: September 24, 2006)

IT IS NOT A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE...

IT'S A LEGALITY ISSUE!

I believe you should welcome all people, too. All people here LEGALLY! What about this don't these people get?

They know they don't have a leg to stand on this issue, so they try to move the debate into the realm of "human rights." That everyone who feels the need to come here has the instrinsic right to do so, even if it requires circumventing the law. And if you are a person who recognizes that immigration laws exist for the benefit of the country and its citizens and must be enforced, then you don't care about the "human dignity" of those people.

24,655 people have signed a petition to stop taxpayer funding of the ACLU.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ACLU/

''Our greatest fear is the fear,'' said the Rev. John H. Thomas, emeritus rector of St. John's Episcopal Church.

If we feared them (the illegals) we wouldn't be fighting them.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/99 ... etail.html

Town May Make It Illegal To Hire Illegals
Town Meeting Expected To Vote On Proposal

POSTED: 7:45 am EDT September 25, 2006
UPDATED: 5:23 pm EDT September 25, 2006

BOSTON -- The immigration debate is heating up in one Massachusetts town, where residents are expected to vote on a proposal that could revoke the license of any business that employs illegal immigrants.

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that the proposal has sparked an intense debate across the country, with letters and e-mails pouring into the offices of the Sandwich, Mass., board of selectmen. One selectmen said he would vote no because a yes vote would paint the Cape Cod town as "un-business friendly."

There are few illegal immigrants in the town, and some town officials want to keep it that way. Recently, the board of selectmen unanimously approved special legislation that would ban businesses from hiring illegal immigrants. At a Town Hall meeting scheduled for Monday night, residents will decide whether they want to approve the proposal. Some said they didn't see any need for such a law.

"I've been in this town a long time, and I have not seen any illegals around. I think they have a lot more to do in this town than to be looking for that," business owner Heidi Arnold said.

If voters approved the legislation, it would then require the state Legislature's approval to become a law, which would be enforceable only in Sandwich. If federal authorities determined that a business had hired illegal immigrant workers, the businesses license could be pulled, suspended or denied.

Originally, selectmen wanted to fine businesses $1,000 for each illegal immigrant hired but that provision was removed on the advice of the town attorney. Reportedly, fines are already covered under federal immigration law.

"The message we would like to send is this: We don't welcome businesses that hire illegal immigrants. It's illegal. Simple," said Randy Hunt, chairman of the board of selectmen.

The legislation was first proposed in response to local businesses owners, mainly in the construction industry, who complained that they could not compete with businesses that hired illegals.