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Immigration ordinance passes

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BEAUFORT -- For the last three months, no issue has drawn more attention and participation in Beaufort County government than the County Council's proposed illegal immigration ordinance.

Some meetings were so packed crowds spilled into the hallway. Dozens spoke passionately in an effort to sway the council on a local issue that made national news.

On Wednesday, it all ended with a whisper rather than a shout. Only 10 people spoke. Half of them complimented the council on its effort.

On a 9-0 vote, council approved the "lawful employment ordinance," a law that has changed significantly since it was first debated in mid-September. Councilman Dick Stewart, who previously opposed the ordinance, did not attend the meeting. The ordinance takes effect Jan. 1, 2008.

The final version does little more than what may already be allowed under existing business license law: the county can take away a company's license if it's found to knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

It's the changes council made to the final version that likely led most opponents to stay home Wednesday. The timing of council's special meeting -- sandwiched between Christmas and New Year's -- also might have kept the public away.

The council scheduled the special meeting because it wanted to make sure the controversial ordinance passed before six newly-elected members are sworn in next week. Five of those newcomers -- Jerry Stewart, Laura Von Harten, Paul Sommerville, Rick Caporale and Stu Rodman -- sent a memo to the council last week urging it to defer a final vote until they had a chance to weigh in.

"Implementation will be extremely challenging and thus it may be more constructive to develop the implementation strategy in parallel with finalizing the ordinance," the memo said.

Current councilman Bill McBride said he was offended by the memo.

He noted there were no signatures beneath the typewritten names, "so I hope the people who are listed here are not on it."

He also dismissed suggestions council was rushing the ordinance, saying members spent months debating and revising the proposal.

"If this was a rush job, we would have had one verdict," McBride said. "And it wouldn't have changed,"

WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES

The ordinance allows the county to audit businesses operating in unincorporated Beaufort County to ensure all their employment verification documents are legitimate.

If those documents show employees don't meet federal standards, the county can then suspend a company's license.

The next step lets council decide whether the license should be revoked.

Council has yet to establish exactly how the ordinance will be enforced. That's a decision for the incoming council.

It's also unclear whether the municipalities will adopt the same rules. The mayors of Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and Beaufort previously said they have concerns about the ordinance, but that was before council removed two controversial provisions. One of those provisions would have required business owners to verify an employee's legal status using a federal data base. The second would have allowed residents to file complaints against businesses.

If the municipalities don't adopt the same rules, only businesses operating in unincorporated Beaufort County will be audited. Those elsewhere would not.

Council agreed Wednesday to send a letter to municipal leaders urging them to adopt the same rules.

"The towns have to come on board with this ... to make this work," said councilwoman Margaret Griffin.

HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT OR A BETTER SOCIETY?

The ordinance was first proposed by councilwoman Starletta Hairston in mid-September. It was designed to punish businesses that employ illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them. It was shaped around a proposal adopted by the city of Hazelton, Pa. That community was sued by civil rights and Hispanic groups who said the law was unconstitutional and contended enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility.

Hairston has said part of her interest in the issue comes from her husband's stucco business struggling over the past few years because of an influx of undocumented workers.

But the ordinance she proposed was scaled back significantly after council hired attorneys to determine the constitutionality of the proposal. The Wall Street Journal was among those covering the local effort.

On Wednesday, Hairston and other council members continued to reject suggestions the ordinance was discriminatory. Instead, she said it's meant to level the playing field for businesses that only hire legal workers.

"Anytime you treat people equally according to the law, then no one is being discriminated (against)," Hairston said. "This is not a personal situation. This is the law, and as an elected official, we must all uphold the laws of the United States to the best of our ability."

Still, some have said the discussion surrounding the ordinance created a hostile environment for local Hispanics.

Hilton Head Island resident Chris Gomez held up a sign Wednesday found posted along S.C. 170. It read: "Reward, report illegal aliens or untaxed labor" and included two toll-free numbers labeled as the Internal Revenue Service. He expects to see more of such signs cropping up now that the ordinance is in place.

"In Beaufort County, if you're Hispanic or look Hispanic you can expect to be treated differently," he said.

Supporters, however, thanked council for their leadership and applauded loudly once the final vote was cast.

"This is a good start at getting our society better," said Beaufort resident Donald Starkey.

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