Locals seek answers on immigration
BY DAVID DEMILLE • ddemille@thespectrum.com • April 30, 2009

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ST. GEORGE - Only five residents spoke up during Wednesday's public forum with the St. George City Council, and all five brought up concerns with illegal immigration.



Since January of 2008, the city has implemented several new policies, mandating that city employees and contractors hired for city projects verify worker eligibility through a federal database, inserting the issue into city business licenses and working with other agencies to have local law officers trained as immigration agents.

The five residents said they appreciated the moves, but were concerned about enforcement.

Much-discussed SB81, a statewide immigration reform bill, is set to go into effect in July, but several residents asked whether the new laws would be enforced, which already appears unlikely in some areas of the state.

Some of Utah's largest law enforcement agencies, including the Utah Highway Patrol and the Salt Lake City Police Department, are not using resources to train officers as immigration agents, but St. George Police Chief Marlon Stratton said Washington County is one of two counties where some officers have already been trained. Two jail officers at Purgatory Correc-tional Facility have been certified.

"We felt like our resources were much better served by having our officers at the jail," he said.

Stratton also said 30 people have been deported in the last year through cooperation between the county's gang task force and a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Residents also asked about the city's stance on E-Verify, a program operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to verify identification and worker eligibility.

Larry Morrison, of St. George, said his insulation company gets "two jobs a week" just by advertising that it uses E-Verify to check its employees' work status. He said more businesses should use the system, which he described as easy and a better option than trying to verify documents without help.

"To expect an employer to go through all that, that's a lot to put on someone," he said.

The city currently requires all business owners to certify on their business licenses that they will use eligible workers, but there is no enforcement measure in place.

Jon Pike, council member, said random audits could come soon, but for now, the city is taking what steps it can.

"We knew there were limitations to how far you could go," said Councilman Gil Almquist. "So we went as far as we could."

The city council meets again today, at 4 p.m., to consider an interlocal agreement between the police department and other Washington County law enforcement agencies to receive $200,000 in stimulus funds to pay to keep officers on patrol.

Other items on the agenda include a presentation on the area's feral cat issue and a discussion on a new study done to evaluate the city's rental fees.

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