http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab5 ... 1691&rfi=6

11/28/2006
Council proposes immigration law
By: Gregg MacDonald

Herndon Town Council members spent a good while at their last work session on the topic of illegal aliens.
Town Attorney Richard Kaufman presented the council with a proposed legislative program that included a request for the General Assembly to pass state legislation prohibiting the hiring of illegal aliens in Virginia.

"Federal law, in my opinion, already prohibits this act but is not being energetically enforced," Kaufman stated in his report.

The proposed bill would amend and re-enact some state code, allowing localities to enforce the statute prohibiting the hiring of illegal aliens by making it a criminal violation. It would also allow Herndon and other localities to create a town licensing program to control who hires day workers.

Kaufman told the council that both he and Town Manager Steve Owen met with the Commission of Labor and Industry in September and derived from the meeting that "the existing state statute does not focus on the issue of day labor assembly sites, which is a major issue in this community."

The proposed bill would criminalize the hiring of illegal aliens and enable the town to license and monitor the hiring of day laborers. He said he suspected that the bill would be "subject to much debate in the General Assembly" but said "there has been significant legal research on this bill," and that, in his opinion, he found it to be "reasonable and in line with other existing bills proposed in 2006."

Kaufman also addressed two topics brought to his attention by members of the town council.

He said Councilwoman Connie Haines Hutchinson had asked him to research the possibility of "taxing or regulating the transfer of money sent to other countries." He said that more time was needed to research the issue.

He then addressed a proposal put forth by Councilman Bill Tirrell that would prohibit illegal aliens from obtaining building permits and other services. Kaufman told the council that there did not appear to be any Dillon Rule authority and that "people should not be discouraged to apply for the safety-based permits."

"It's too big a battle to fight tonight, but I don't know why we don't do everything we can possibly do to let illegal aliens know that they are not welcome here," Tirrell said. "We need to turn over all the rocks and expose what's out there."

At the end of the session, Tirrell said the council should consider putting out official town documents published only in English. Spanish is the only foreign language now used in some town documents. Tirrell noted the state of California's recent publishing of its official documents in 32 languages.