Thread: Yakima City Council approves use of E-Verify

Yakima City Council approves use of E-Verify

by Chris Bristol
Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Amid a new round of politically charged rhetoric about illegal immigration, a divided Yakima City Council narrowly reversed itself Tuesday and approved the use of E-Verify over the objection of Hispanic community leaders.

The council voted 4-3 to require that contractors who do business with the city must verify the legal status of their employees by using the controversial federal employment-screening database.

A year ago the council rejected E-Verify by the same margin amid sometimes heated testimony that vilified the online program as prone to mistakes and warned its use would alienate Yakima's rapidly growing Hispanic population. A study by an outside research firm found the program is not foolproof.

The debate was the same the second time around, the only difference being the swing vote of Councilman Rick Ensey. He said no last year. This time he said yes.

"I'm not completely happy with it, but it's good enough," said Ensey, who previously had voiced concerns about the accuracy of the program and whether its use posed a bureaucratic burden on small businesses.

Joining Ensey in favor were council members Dave Ettl and Bill Lover along with Mayor Micah Cawley. Voting no, as they did last year, were Maureen Adkison, Kathy Coffey and Dave Edler.

The re-vote was engineered by Ettl, who tweaked last year's proposal by including specific bidding thresholds for contractors of $2,500 for service contracts and $5,000 for public works contracts.

E-Verify is a free, online employment-verification program offered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that checks identities against several federal databases.

The program is used by hundreds of cities and counties across the country, and the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld a new law in Arizona that requires all employers to use E-Verify.

The city of Yakima already uses a similar Social Security-based system to cross-reference employment applications to verify legal status. Ettl's proposal would require contractors to certify they use E-Verify, too.

With council chambers at standing-room-only capacity, opponents of E-Verify outnumbered supporters.

"It sends the wrong message," said Nestor Hernandez, president of the Yakima County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

His colleague on the chamber, Luz Bazn Gutierrez, called E-Verify divisive and warned that its use could worsen Yakima's gang problem.

"These kind of resolutions send the parents back into the shadows," she explained.

"We don't want it to get worse," agreed Rogelio Montes, who recently filed for the City Council position soon to be vacated by Dave Edler.

Nick Marquez, a businessman and member of the City Council's Gang-Free Initiative committee, urged the council to let immigration reform come down from Congress and the Obama administration.

"When we bring it from a community level, it's just divisive," he said.

Other speakers, some of whom spoke only Spanish, warned of the effect E-Verify could have on the agricultural industry.

Those fears in turn prompted Ettl and other supporters on the council to point out the program is only for contractors hired by the city of Yakima.

"When's the last time the city hired someone to pick an apple?" Ettl asked.

Ettl and fellow Councilman Bill Lover were the most outspoken in their support for E-Verify, which Lover framed as a blow against fraud.

"It's not divisive to expect us to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money," he said.

His enthusiasm was not shared by Edler, who accused proponents of pandering for political purposes.

"This is a problem we don't have," he said, adding the council was "trying to fix something that doesn't need fixing."

*Chris Bristol can be reached at 509-577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisJBristol.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/20 ... f-e-verify

"It's not divisive to expect us to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money," he said.

His enthusiasm was not shared by Edler, who accused proponents of pandering for political purposes.

"This is a problem we don't have," he said, adding the council was "trying to fix something that doesn't need fixing."

Well Mr Elder if there isn't a problem,what's everyone screaming about then? The only ones who seem to have a problem with E-Verify are Hispanics or OBL'ers, and we know why they have a problem with it... it means the LAW applies to EVERYONE!

Will E-Verify Work in Yakima?

By Ryan Simms
Story Published: Jun 8, 2011 at 5:38 PM PDT

YAKIMA -- Contractors working with the city will now have to prove they're not hiring illegal immigrants, but will E-Verify do much good?

From landscapers to construction companies, the decision to bring E-Verify to Yakima will affect any contractor doing thousands of dollars worth of business for the city. It caps off a year-long debate. Councilman Rick Ensey originally voted against E-Verify, but he changed his tune, partly because he thinks it wouldn't have a huge impact in Yakima.

"The businesses that go out and hire illegal immigrants probably aren't going to be the ones that have contracts with the city of Yakima," Ensey told KIMA.

Action News looked into how successful E-Verify has been for other communities in Washington.

KIMA called Kennewick, Lakewood and Lewis County. Only Lewis County got back to us.

The county's human resources director didn't want to be interviewed, but told KIMA he's not sure E-Verify has made a difference. He did tell us it's added to his employee's workload.

KIMA asked Ensey if he ever worries the same will happen in Yakima.

"It's always a possibility. We won't know until a year into it," he said.

Action News also contacted several towns close to Yakima. Toppenish, Sunnyside, and Walla Walla each told KIMA they have no interest in signing up for E-Verify because their current systems like I-9 forms are more than enough in weeding out undocumented workers.

http://www.kimatv.com/news/local/123506969.html