Anyone who’s ever filled out new hire paperwork for a job is familiar with the Federal I-9 form, which determines if an employee is eligible to work in the United States.
Soon, such prospective workers in Santa Maria may have their documents checked against an electronic database administered by the Department of Homeland Security.
A measure scheduled to come before the City Council as soon as April 6 will debate the use of the E-Verify program for Santa Maria. Not everyone is pleased at the prospect of the city welcoming use of the Web-based system, however.
“The issue of the adequacy of employment verification should be addressed at the national level in Washington, D.C., not by the Santa Maria City Council,” said Richard Quandt, president of the local Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association.
Quandt was also concerned that the system could incorrectly report someone’s employment eligibility.
“A big criticism of the program is that people who have just recently naturalized themselves or become American citizens aren’t in the databank,” he said.
Those and other concerns will be addressed by the city, which is taking a measured approach to the issue, said City Manager Tim Ness.
“We’re not recommending the City Council jump into E-Verify and require its use,” he said. “For now, we’re taking it one step at a time.”
Ness added that his staff plans to offer several different options to the council. The possible plans include:
Status quo (doing nothing). That’s an option included on every proposal, regardless of the issue.
Mandate the use of E-Verify for the hiring of all new city employees. Any new hires by the city would have to go through the I-9, as well as the E-Verify process.
Required for all city vendors and contractors. Any businesses that have business with the city would be required to use E-Verify.
E-Verify ordinance. All business that hold a business license within city limits would be required to use E-Verify. Its use would also be a requirement for all new and renewed businesses licenses.
Ness said city staffers are going to recommend a six-month trial program to the council, during which E-Verify will be used for hiring all new employees.
During that window, a committee of department heads—whose departments are involved with contractors and vendors—would receive feedback from the public and businesses, discuss the program, and gather information so it would have a recommendation for the council in six months.
If the council adopts a citywide E-Verify ordinance, Ness sees enforcement as one of the “biggest pitfalls” facing city staff.
“Obviously any type of law like that has to require some kind of compliance or enforcement,” he said. “We’d have to go out and audit businesses in the city and tell them, ‘Show us employees you’ve hired. Make sure you have records that you used E-Verify.’ You can see how potentially voluminous it could be.”
Apart from the logistics involved, E-Verify is becoming something of a focal point in the current debate over illegal immigration.
“I think it’s tough to mandate a voluntary program,” said Chamber of Commerce President Bob Hatch. “Is there a better way to do this [employment verification]? Maybe. E-Verify is a good start, but immigration reform is what the people want.”
Hatch said he was sympathetic to businesses that would have to deal with the additional steps of the E-Verify program, but that it’s a necessary step to immigration reform.
“Agriculture is in a tough situation. They’ve got to know they’ve got illegal people working for them,” Hatch said. “But the cost of illegal immigration needs to be verified and promoted—the cost to us, to the taxpayers.”
Quandt sees E-Verify less as a tool for employment verification and more as a rallying cry for anti-immigration groups.
“Frankly, a lot of fear mongers and people that are anti-immigration are pushing the issue,” he said. “It’s a big mistake for the council to even put it on the agenda; this just gives the Minutemen a forum to spew their rhetoric.”
The Central Coast Chapter of the Minuteman Corps of California could not be reached for comment.
The City Council could take up the issue at its meeting on April 6.
“This will be a real interesting debate,” Quandt said.
Contact Staff Writer Nicholas Walter at nwalter@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 1-8, 2010.