Beach council talks of requiring immigration status proof
By DEIRDRE FERNANDES, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 5, 2007



VIRGINIA BEACH

Some Virginia Beach council members want to start requiring the city's contractors and vendors to prove all of their workers are in the United States legally.

Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson proposed the city beef up its immigration policy at the council's annual two-day retreat this past weekend.

"I think it's a reasonable thing to have a policy that we only hire people who are here legally, and we do business with people who only hire people here legally," Wilson said. "I think the public is upset about it, and they don't want to hear it's not our problem."

The proposal is similar to one the Chesapeake City Council is considering. Last month, Chesapeake Mayor Dalton Edge proposed that any company interested in doing business with the city provide certification that it is obeying all state and federal immigration laws. Under the proposal, city officials would be allowed to inspect any contractor's records and documentation for compliance.

Immigration leapfrogged to the forefront of Virginia Beach politics earlier this year after two teenage girls were killed in a wreck by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk. Alfredo Ramos, who pleaded guilty to aggravated involuntary manslaughter in their deaths, had three prior alcohol-related convictions.

Talk show host Bill O'Reilly spotlighted the case on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" and criticized the Beach's mayor and police for not having tougher illegal immigration policies.

Virginia Beach police now ask suspects from another country about their immigration status after they are arrested.

Last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested a Verizon Communications subcontractor for employing and housing illegal immigrants. During a traffic stop on Interstate 264 in May, authorities arrested 14 illegal immigrants who worked for the subcontractor, B&B Cable. B&B had put the workers up in a house off Oceana Boulevard in Virginia Beach.

Wilson said she doesn't want the city to fall into the same situation as Verizon.

But some council members said immigration is a federal and state issue and worried that Virginia Beach doesn't have the money to pay for additional workers to enforce the laws.

"I don't support the use of tax dollars on this," Councilman Jim Wood said.

Councilman Harry Diezel said he is wary of some of the people pushing the City Council who want to see illegal immigrants rounded up and housed in a fenced area.

"What I don't want us to do is react to extremes," Diezel said. "I don't want to put people behind barbed wire fences."

Diezel said he supports a City Council discussion on immigration.

Council members asked City Attorney Les Lilley to look into what immigration policies city departments are now enforcing and what further measures city leaders can take.

Councilman Bill DeSteph also asked Lilley to look into a program that allows local law enforcement officers to receive training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and then have the authority to arrest and deport people on immigration violations.

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.c ... ran=114222