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Commish is “mean spirited! He cares more for electorate than illegals!
May 15, 2009
Editorial: Plan for screening illegal immigrants is mean-spirited and unwise
The Detroit News
Sometimes, when the job market gets tight, there's a temptation to blame the situation on others -- usually on newcomers to the work force. But Oakland County should reject this temptation, embodied in a plan to require county contractors and subcontractors to use the federal government's E-Verify system to screen for workers' immigration status.
County Executive L. Brooks Patterson agrees. His deputy, Gerald Poisson, refers to the proposed ordinance as "laudable but unenforceable."
County Commissioner Jim Runestad, R-White Lake Township, who is sponsoring the resolution, says Oakland County "needs to be an example" for a state with an estimated 150,000 illegal immigrants. Runestad says county residents have called on the commission to lock illegal aliens out of the job market.
E-Verify, Runestad adds, is a "huge deterrent" for illegal workers.
But the few jobs Oakland County residents could gain from making the E-Verify system mandatory are far outweighed by the public image hit Oakland would take by feeding either the idea that illegal workers are at the heart of its troubles or the perception that its leaders are mean-spirited.
Poisson said Patterson is "concerned about imposing any more regulations on businesses in this climate," citing the training required for employers to participate. County vendors are already required to follow all laws, and those who don't are liable to have their contracts revoked.
Dealing with illegal immigrants on a case-by-case basis makes more sense than setting up another hurdle for contractors to jump through.
And pinning Oakland County's unemployment woes on illegal workers is a distraction that neither county government nor Oakland residents can afford.
Deputy Executive Poisson says that if the resolution is passed it shouldn't go into effect until after June 30, when use of the E-Verify system becomes mandatory for federal contractors.
County contractors who voluntarily use the E-Verify system are more than welcome to tout their "all-American" work forces as a selling point, and may find some benefit in doing so.
Runestad believes he has enough votes to pass the E-Verify resolution when the commission takes it up on June 1.
We hope that cooler heads prevail on the commission in the meantime and that the temptation fades in playing the unemployment blame game.
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