County councilman seeks local enforcement of illegal immigration law

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By Kalen Ponche
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 3:12 AM CST

Some members of the St. Charles County Council hope to crack down on businesses that employ illegal workers.

Council Chairman Joe Brazil, R-District 2, wants building inspectors to investigate complaints about illegal immigrants working on construction projects in the county.

Brazil said the county has not been able to legally investigate complaints about businesses that might employ illegal workers.

Opponents of similar efforts, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say these proposals open the door for racial and ethnic discrimination. Contractor trade groups say these patchwork laws make it difficult for businesses to work on an even playing field.

Brazil plans to sponsor a bill that would essentially be a copy of a state law that bans businesses from employing illegal immigrants. It went into effect Aug. 28, 2008, and gives the attorney general the ability to investigate complaints about illegal workers.

But Brazil said he's concerned the attorney general might not follow up on complaints in a timely manner. He wants to give county building inspectors the ability to enforce a local ordinance similar to the state's new law.

His proposal would require construction contractors to get a business license when they work in unincorporated parts of the county. If a contractor were found to be employing illegal immigrants and he or she didn't come into compliance, the contractor's business license could be suspended. A business license could cost $25 to $35, although it has not yet been set.

"I've had complaints there are people working on the job that are extremely questionable," Brazil said. "Licensing contractors is the only way we can deal with it."

Brazil said in the past year there were two construction projects in which people suspected the workers may have been illegal immigrants. He said at one site employees had license plates from Mexico and were paid in cash on Fridays.

Under the proposed ordinance, building inspectors would request business owners send identity documents for their employees if they received a valid complaint.

Complaints based solely on race or ethnic origins of workers are not considered valid under the state law.

"I think it's going to have to be if you see people get paid in cash or you see an (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) violation or unsafe building violations," Brazil said.

But Tony Rothert, legal director for the ACLU of Eastern Missouri, said the state law doesn't discourage racism or discrimination and could allow officials to investigate thinly based race complaints.

"The balance that's been achieved in the federal immigration law is completely absent (in the state law)," he said. "There's no protection of workers' privacy. There's no provision to discourage discrimination."

County Counselor Joann Leykam said it would first be up to the Department of Community Development to determine whether a complaint is valid. The state law lays out requirements for evaluating a complaint, but Leykam said the state law "is not an easy law to follow."

"It's a very fact-specific situation of them figuring out whether or not it's a valid complaint," she said.

Rothert said another concern with the proposed ordinance would be that building inspectors would be asking for federal I-9 Employee Eligibility Verification information for workers, which is confidential under federal law.

"The reason for the confidentiality is to provide some privacy for the employees," Rothert said.

Leykam said the county cannot require an employer to send I-9 forms. She said the employers could send in whatever information would verify the employee's status. The Department of Community Development would then inquire the federal government about whether the person could work legally.

Ultimately, Rothert said immigration law enforcement should be handled on a federal level and that complaints show a need for federal reform.

"Really this is the federal government's job and issue to determine lawful presence in the county," he said. "Officials and county police are not trained or qualified to determine who is lawfully present so putting them in the position of trying to figure that out is not going to help the problem."

Brazil said ultimately his goal is to make sure all contractors have an equal opportunity and ability to work in the county.

"The legit contractors and the people who are following the law will not object to this," he said.

But Len Toenjes, president of the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis, said if there are concerns that the state would not enforce the immigration law, the county should push for a solution to that problem instead of adding another layer of local regulation.

"It starts to spiral and that can lead to additional bureaucracy where there isn't any now," he said. "It's kind of one of those unintended consequences. It sounds like a good idea at the time it started, but we've seen it happen too often that it turns into something it shouldn't."
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