About time somebody said it. Maybe it'll catch on state wide.
More and more cities are taking the plunge.
Town adjusts stance against illegal aliens
By George Brennan
Cape Cod Times
August 17, 2006
SANDWICH, MASS. - Town leaders plan to push forward with a local anti-illegal immigration law, despite a lawsuit challenging a similar ordinance in a Pennsylvania city.
At a special town meeting scheduled for Sept. 15, voters will be able to either support the proposal or reject it. But the measure will have different wording than Selectman Douglas Dexter's original proposal, in part to avoid a legal battle.
Last month, selectmen unanimously approved a bylaw to impose a $1,000 fine on businesses cited by federal authorities for hiring undocumented workers. Repeat offenders would lose their licenses to do business in town.
Now, selectmen have asked town counsel to draft a home rule petition that might avoid a protracted legal tangle, selectmen chairman Randal Hunt said Tuesday.
The new proposal, which needs to be completed by the board's first meeting in September, probably won't include the fine and will focus instead on revoking town licenses and permits, Hunt said.
A home rule petition is special legislation that requires approval by the state Legislature and becomes state law even though it only applies to that town. Bylaws, in contrast, only require town meeting approval and are reviewed by the state attorney general.
"If it passes through Beacon Hill, it becomes state law and is far less likely to attract a lawsuit," Hunt said. "I'm definitely sensitive to the issue of spending taxpayers' money on something like this."
According to The Associated Press, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund filed suit Monday against Hazelton, Pa.
That city approved an ordinance in July to fine landlords $1,000 a day for knowingly renting to illegal immigrants and will revoke business licenses of those who employ them, AP reported.
"There are very serious legal issues," said Ann Lambert, a lawyer for the Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Municipalities don't have the power to act where federal laws are in charge."
Immigration is covered under federal law, which already includes a $1,000 fine, and supersedes municipal law. Businesses are required to document citizenship through federal I-9 forms or with work visas.
The town would piggyback on any businesses found in violation by federal authorities, Hunt said. U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement did not have statistics readily available on Cape businesses that may have violated federal immigration laws, spokeswoman Paula Grenier said yesterday. She suggested filing a Freedom of Information Act request, which the Times will do.
The ACLU strongly opposes what Lambert calls an emerging trend across the country to target illegal aliens and supports the Pennsylvania lawsuit.
"Is this a good thing for Sandwich? I don't think so," she said. It's not the way to deal with a national issue and it may not stand up legally, she said.
Towns in Ohio, California, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas and even another Cape town, which Dexter declined to name, inquired about the proposal.
"It's an issue in every single town," Dexter said. "Name me a town where it's not an issue."
Local businesses, including some which use legal foreign workers, say they've been hurt by illegal immigrants working at Sandwich businesses, both Hunt and Dexter said. They declined to provide names.
In the days after selectmen voted on the bylaw, some local residents questioned why it's needed in Sandwich, which is 97 percent white and has a median family income of $74,000, according to 2000 U.S. Census data.
Not everyone in town is supportive. The issue was touched on during a sermon at St. John's Episcopal Church Sunday by the Rev. John McGinn, a Sandwich resident, who opposes the idea. In his sermon, he called on the kindness of Christians to welcome strangers among us.
"Yes, we want people to follow the laws, but sometimes we need to make adjustments in our laws," he said Tuesday. "I'm not against enforcing our borders against terrorists, but there are millions of others who come here because of political aggression, poverty and disease to make a new life."
George Brennan can be reached at gbrennan@capecodonline.com.