Passions high on immigrant law
Council hears varied opinions on requiring checks on workers.
City Council chambers were filled past capacity Monday as dozens of residents turned out for a lengthy meeting that included a public hearing on a controversial petition submitted by the Ozarks Minutemen.
City staff opened up an overflow room after attendees exceeded the official capacity of 133 in the third floor meeting room.
When the public hearing began -- after two hours of other business -- at least half that many remained.
The proposed ordinance would require any employer doing business in Springfield to use the federal E-Verify computer program to check the eligibility of all current and potential workers.
Any business found to employ an unlawful worker could see its city business license suspended. Longer suspensions and eventual license revocation can follow with subsequent violations, although City Attorney Dan Wichmer said monetary fines included in the proposal conflict with federal law.
Hoping to limit testimony to about 90 minutes, Mayor Jim O'Neal modified normal council rules to limit speakers to three minutes, rather than five.
Even so, after 45 minutes, only five of the 18 scheduled speakers had taken a turn at the podium.
Jerry Wilson, an Ozark man who serves as a spokesman for the Ozarks Minutemen, said the ordinance is needed to close a "loophole big enough to drive an 18-wheeler through" in the current process of verifying worker eligibility.
Wilson said unscrupulous employers can fulfill the letter of the law by accepting fraudulent documents at face value. Mandating the use of E-Verify would ensure those documents were at least run through a federal database.
"Illegal aliens will self-deport" when job opportunities dry up, he said.
Don Potvin, a human resources executive at America's Incredible Pizza Company, said his experience with E-Verify has been overwhelmingly positive.
"It does all the work for us," he said. "It works in tandem with the (paper-based) I-9 program."
But Springfield insurance agent Joe Robles said the requirement would be burdensome for small businesses in addition to being poorly written.
"This ordinance would probably be gutted at a cost to businesses and taxpayers," Robles said.
He criticized the Ozarks Minutemen as dealers in "innuendos, accusations, fear-mongering" while describing the ordinance -- described as an anti-illegal immigration measure -- as a message to businesses that "you're not welcome here."
Cheryl Clay, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, also said the proposal would hurt local businesses and waste local staff time.
"There are already legal procedures in place (to address illegal immigration)," she said. "I do not believe it is the city of Springfield's duty to police the federal government."
The Minutemen and other supporters, including Councilman Nick Ibarra, have said state and federal authorities are not doing an adequate job.
Ozarks Minutemen leader Jerry Long also said the ordinance will benefit business.
"Businesses that follow the law and use E-Verify will find the hiring side of the field leveled," Long said, adding that "it eliminates discrimination because all employees are checked."
In addition to Monday's testimony, which appeared poised to continue past 10 p.m., the City Council also will continue taking comments by phone, letter or email before voting on the issue in two weeks.
Because the proposed ordinance was advanced by initiative petition, the council may only adopt the ordinance as written or put it before voters at a public election, likely in February.
Ibarra noted Monday that adoption by the council, rather than public vote, could allow the measure to be amended more easily.
If the council approves the ordinance, it could be amended almost immediately, according to Wichmer. If approved by voters at a public election, it could not be changed for at least six months and then only by a unanimous vote of council.
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