There are still some out there fighting illegal aliens. The fight continues!!!
Illegal Alien Petition Hearing Brings Big Crowd to City Council
Springfield, MO) -- An illegal immigration debate heated up at Springfield City Council Monday night.
It was a packed house as Council heard 17 speakers discuss a petition aimed at cracking down on local businesses that hire illegal aliens.
Some people told OzarksFirst.com they hadn't seen so many people at a meeting there in a long time.
Council held its first reading and a public hearing on an E-verify petition.
Two bills were presented: one to pass the measure as is; the second to send the issue to voters.
Seventeen members of the public spoke as both measures were read together. Seven were in favor; ten were against.
The City says the public hearing has been held open for additional comments until 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26. Comments may be submitted until that time via e-mail to:
citycouncil@springfieldmo.gov.
You can also call or write the City Clerk's Office.
The Ozarks Minutemen submitted the petition to make it illegal for businesses licensed by the City of Springfield to hire illegal aliens.
The proposal also calls for the mandatory use of E-verify, a free, government-sponsored program which enables employers to easily determine a worker's eligibility.
Mayor O'Neal asked City Council to suspend normal rules and limit each speaker to three minutes instead of five minutes, due to an expected high turnout. He wanted to wrap up the meeting within 90 minutes and hear all viewpoints.
Many people at the meeting wore "no hate" stickers.
One woman tells us this ordinance is spreading unnecessary discrimination in the Ozarks.
But Jerry Wilson, spokesman for the Ozarks Minutemen, says enforcing immigration laws isn't effective on the state and federal level.
"Generally speaking, the broad category of people who can work in the U.S. are people who have a Social Security number. That's what E-verify does. It simply checks the Social Security number against the Social Security Administration."
City Council has two weeks to adopt the ordinance or send it to voters.
Possible penalties would be a local business losing its license.
If City Council adopts the ordinance, it can still be repealed in the future.
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=509667