Commissioner seeks tougher immigration controls

County Commissioner Rose Rocco is calling for a thorough review of the county's purchasing procedures to ensure that no contractors doing business with Hernando County are employing illegal aliens.
Rocco said there are too many people unemployed in the county, and they should not have to compete with undocumented laborers.
"I want a full line of information on just how we handle it in the county and make sure we're hiring people who are legally here and participating in paying taxes," Rocco said.
Rocco said she will ask her colleagues to place the matter on a commission agenda for later this month or early February.
At that meeting, Rocco said she will ask for department staffers to be on hand to discuss ways of toughening up hiring controls, possibly tweaking the county's current purchasing guidelines that would require contractors to use E-Verify.
The federal E-Verify program - operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration - is a free Internet-based system that allows employers to determine the eligibility of employees to work in the United States.
Illegal aliens who take jobs from American citizens are "really taking advantage of the system," Rocco said, who added that illegal immigration hiring has a domino effect on schools and health care.
Participation in the E-Verify system is voluntary and limited to determining the employment eligibility of new hires only, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site.
Jerry Haines, the county's workers compensation and safety specialist, said the human resources department does background checks on anyone applying for a job with the county. However, the county has no authority over private contractors' labor force.
"When it comes to who they hire, we have no control over that," Haines said. "It's their responsibility."
Betty Dobson of Spring Lake has been an avid proponent of e-verification and has asked state legislators and county commissioners to push for its use.
Dobson believes that Gov. Charlie Crist and state legislators "refuse to confront illegal immigration" in Florida.
"The state of Florida would save billions in education, assistance and incarceration if we could deport illegals from our state," Dobson said.
Crist, she said, could sign an executive order that would mandate all state contractors to use E-Verify and so far has not done so.
Dobson said it is shameful that some of these higher paying road and construction projects brought about by federal stimulus dollars are going to illegal aliens.
Dobson disagrees with critics who say Americans would not take some of these agricultural jobs that are now embraced by illegals.
Dobson said she believes passionately in this cause because her sister, who runs a landscaping business in Kentucky, is continually getting outbid on projects by other contractors because they use illegal aliens and don't have to pay them as much.
Not only is it unfair but it is driving down wages, Dobson said.
State Rep. Robert Schenck said he has been in contact with Dobson and agrees the county needs to crack down on illegal immigration.
Schenck said forcing contractors to use E-Verify is a good start. However, there must be checks and balances in place because other counties that have used it have experienced inaccuracies, he said.
Often, the system will either fail to register an illegal alien or mistakenly identifies one who should not be on the list, he said.
Schenck said if his schedule permits, he may attend the county's workshop when it occurs.
"It's an important issue and I think it helps the economy," he said. "I would encourage the county commissioners to continue to look at this and prevent illegal immigration as a way to protect jobs here in Hernando County, as we do statewide."