Thread: Suffolk Plans a Crackdown on Laborers There Illegally

http://link.toolbot.com/nytimes.com/67290

Suffolk Plans a Crackdown on Laborers There Illegally

By COREY KILGANNON
Published: March 1, 2007
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Feb. 28 — Warning that the proliferation of illegal immigrants is threatening the basic harmony and quality of life in the suburbs of Long Island, the Suffolk County executive, Steve Levy, outlined a list of initiatives on Wednesday to limit the influx, including a crackdown on day laborers and contractors and the assignment of federal immigration officials to the county jail.

Flanked by other politicians and law enforcement officials, Mr. Levy charged that illegal immigrants were hurting the county’s economy by driving down wages “that would otherwise be paid to legal residents, immigrants or not.”

Illegal immigrants, he said, are driving up costs for schools, hospitals, jails, courts and the police, and Suffolk taxpayers are “unnecessarily footing the bill.”

News of the initiatives brought an immediate outcry from immigrant advocacy groups and Hispanic leaders, who have said that Mr. Levy’s stance smacks of bigotry.

With the illegal immigration issue increasingly playing out in suburban settings, Mr. Levy, a co-founder of a national coalition called Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform, has attracted a national spotlight because of his hard-line stance on the subject. He insists that the federal government has failed to address the problems of illegal immigration or to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants, and that local governments must take up the slack.

Mr. Levy said that after two years of discussion, he had persuaded federal immigration officials to assign four enforcement officers to work full time in the county jail system to deal with inmates who are in the United States illegally.

He said that anti-loitering legislation to prohibit traffic obstruction would help clear day laborers off the roadsides and street corners.

In addition, he said there would be a seminar on March 14 at which county officials would explain to business owners a county law enacted in October that requires companies contracting with Suffolk County to verify that their employees are in the country legally, a move that he said would affect more than 6,000 companies and agencies.

He said the policy of having county police officers look into the legal residency of anyone arrested and having them check the names against a federal database of illegal immigrants resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of illegal immigrants turned over for deportation.

The aim of all these measures, he said, is to protect residents who “do not want to see their neighborhood turned upside down.”

He estimated that of the 1.5 million people living in the county, 40,000 were illegal immigrants.

Saying that federal immigration policy failed to address illegal immigration, he added, “We’re trying to chip away at the problem” by creating local legislation.

“There’s frustration on the local level regarding our nation’s broken borders,” Mr. Levy said, calling the county initiatives an attempt to “blaze the trail” against widespread immigration problems.

Jack Eddington, a Democratic county legislator and a co-sponsor of the anti-loitering legislation, told reporters that the problems of rising taxes and illegal immigration were “two sides of the same coin,” and warned illegal immigrants, “You better beware.”

“If you’re here in Suffolk County illegally, you will not stay here,” Mr. Eddington said. “If you are on the street looking for work and causing unsafe conditions, you will not stay. Suffolk County residents will not be victimized anymore.”

Another co-sponsor, Joseph T. Caracappa, Republican of Selden, said that taxpayers had “had enough” and that people had begun to move out of the county.

“Go down your block and see all the For Sale signs,” he said.

Mr. Levy said that in 2004, the police informed federal authorities about 44 people who seemed to lack legal residency. In 2005, the number increased to 1,063. In 2006, it rose to 2,287.

Sheriff Vincent DeMarco outlined the county’s new Criminal Alien Program, which would give federal immigration officials “access to our jail management system.”

He said that roughly 10 percent of the 1,764 inmates in the county jail system seemed to be in the country illegally. Most of them are supposed to be turned over to federal authorities, he said, but in the meantime must be kept in county jails, costing the county $200 a day for each one.

“We want them out of county jails and into federal prisons ASAP,” he said.

The sheriff said that when people were arrested who could not show any legal residency status, “the majority of them admit how they got in, believe it or not.”

Currently, federal immigration authorities must visit the jail to interview and pick up immigrants, but often the lag in waiting times allows some inmates to be bailed out or “slip through the cracks,” Mr. Levy said. Having officials assigned to the jail would make the process more efficient, he said.

Mr. Levy has been accused by Latino leaders and immigrant advocates of failing to reach out to Spanish-speaking communities and of fostering racism against Latinos. They say that such attitudes led to the 2000 case in which two white men lured two Mexican day laborers to an abandoned warehouse with a promise of work and then beat them.

The Latino leaders called the anti-loitering law an attempt to criminalize “standing while Latino.”

“He’s attacking a community for political gain,” said Nadia Marin-Molina, executive director of the Workplace Project, a Latino advocacy group with offices in Hempstead and Farmingville. “He’s making sure the public remembers that he is anti-immigrant. He’s playing to anti-immigrant sentiment for political gain, just to get additional votes. Suffolk County has low wages and a high cost of living, and he’s telling them to blame the immigrants.”

“We’ve tried to meet with him, but he’s refused,” Ms. Marin-Molina said. “He won’t work with us and won’t do anything to address the real issues. He’ll only attack us.”

Wonderful!

News of the initiatives brought an immediate outcry from immigrant advocacy groups and Hispanic leaders, who have said that Mr. Levy’s stance smacks of bigotry

It looks to me like a fairly large number of hispanic politicians only care about getting as many illegal aliens from Mexico in this country as possible.

Even though it means they jump ahead of people from other countrys who are waiting their turn . Isn't that racism ?

We’ve tried to meet with him, but he’s refused,” Ms. Marin-Molina said. “He won’t work with us and won’t do anything to address the real issues. He’ll only attack us.”

Maybe he doesn't want to meet with you because there is nothing to discuss! And I certainly don't see how upholding the law is an attack to anyone but the criminals!

Anger over new immigration bill

BY JAMES T. MADORE
james.madore@newsday.com

March 7, 2007, 12:24 AM EST

Immigrant-rights groups, civil libertarians and union leaders Tuesday blasted a controversial anti-loitering bill, telling Suffolk County lawmakers that it would spur racial discrimination and undermine the ability of striking employees and others to protest injustices.

But the most startling moment in the two-hour hearing came when Legis. Elie Mystal said he "would load up my gun and start shooting" if dozens of immigrants were congregating along streets in his neighborhood looking for work.

Later, the Amityville Democrat and longtime opponent of local immigration measures said his remark was meant in jest. "I'm very sorry for making that comment. I misspoke," he said in an interview.

Mystal's gaffe, combined with heated rhetoric from supporters and opponents of the anti-loitering bill, obscured the almost total revision of the bill at the behest of County Executive Steve Levy. The amended resolution, filed Tuesday, no longer refers to loitering and instead focuses exclusively on traffic safety.

"We've fashioned the bill based on public safety issues and protecting the free flow of traffic, which is constitutional," said Chief Deputy County Executive Paul Sabatino II. "Loitering laws aren't constitutional; they've been struck down by the courts."

The amended resolution still prohibits immigrant workers from standing along county roads, but only if they're obstructing traffic. It also bars motorists from stopping to negotiate hiring terms with workers.

Violators would face a fine of up to $500 for a first offense and $750 for a second offense within six months of the first. A third offense within a 12-month period could garner a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

"This is a traffic safety issue and I'm not going to say it's not my problem," said Legis. Jack Eddington (WFP-Medford), the bill's principal sponsor. He cited a traffic study from 2001 to 2003 that blamed immigrants on street corners for causing three pedestrians to be hit by vehicles, eight bicycle accidents and 406 near-rear-end collisions.

Opponents disagreed, saying the measure was a thinly veiled attempt to drive out immigrants. Of the 24 speakers, only seven praised the bill.

Luis Valenzuela, director of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, said, "The Standing-While-Latino bill is essentially racist. ... It terrorizes people; our children are terrorized."

Such comments, along with opposition from the Long Island Federation of Labor, caused Legis. Joseph T. Caracappa (R-Selden) to repeatedly ask opponents of the bill how they would feel about living in Farmingville and other communities where immigrants seek work from passing motorists.

None directly answered Caracappa, who saw his anti-loitering bill defeated seven years ago. But then Mystal spoke.

"If I'm living in that neighborhood, and people are gathering like that, I would load up my gun and start shooting, period. Nobody will say it, but I'm going to say it," said Mystal, who emigrated from Haiti and has said he will vote for the bill.

Caracappa interrupted: "Let me just say, I know you meant that as an absolute joke."

Mystal then continued, saying he understood residents' "anger and their wanting to have a solution" but was perplexed by their opposition to establishing a hiring hall, which would take job seekers off the streets.

Legis. Cameron Alden (R-Islip) added that Mystal's remark "will not ever be tolerated in this society. Loading up a gun ... or doing anything like that. He was strictly joking," Alden added.

The public hearing on the resolution was closed Tuesday night. The bill could be voted on as early as March 20.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi ... -headlines

Steve Levy was interviewed on the radio a few days ago.

Well spoken, he sounded like he will NOT back down on this issue!
He gave the impression that he was prepared to go the distance.

Long Island needs this desperately......they're getting inundated with Illegals and everything that comes with this group of people.

Elie Mystal said he "would load up my gun and start shooting" if dozens of immigrants were congregating along streets in his neighborhood looking for work.

I don't care if he said this, in jest or not and I'm not going to judge him.

However, this makes a very strong point. Illegal aliens are causing people to feel some terrible feelings and think some terrible thoughts and that is just un-Christian. You are not guiltless nor innocent, when you provoke someone. Judas didn't sacrifice Jesus but he was not free of responsibility of his actions nor the guilt and shame associated with his involvement.

I'm not letting illegal aliens off the hook, when someone gets this upset at them. They caused this and they have brought this attitude towards them on themselves. Those words never would have crossed that man's lips if they were not here illigaly.

I don't agree with Mystal's statement and I feel he was provoked.

Dixie