Home Delivery

LI contractor bill underscores immigration fight

BY REID J. EPSTEIN | reid.epstein@newsday.com

April 27, 2008

Article tools

E-mail

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Fark
- Google
- Newsvine
- Reddit
- Yahoo

A controversial proposal to require Suffolk's 16,077 licensed contractors to verify their employees' working status poses a political dilemma for many county lawmakers.

Do they vote for Legis. Brian Beedenbender's bill, which many consider unenforceable and anti-immigrant, or do they vote against it and risk being labeled as soft on illegal immigration, the county's hottest political issue?

"How can I vote against a bill that requires people to follow the law?" said Legis. Jay Schneiderman (R-Montauk). "But will Beedenbender's bill change anything? I don't think so."

Beedenbender's bill is scheduled for a vote Tuesday, and the session is expected to draw a large, emotional crowd of immigrant activists, union workers and people who oppose illegal immigration.

Whether the vote will happen was thrown into question last week when Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) proposed an alternate resolution that would give conflicted legislators a way out of the politically sticky situation.

Critical differences

Those in favor of Beedenbender's plan say it's necessary to send a message to employers that hiring undocumented workers - whose numbers immigrant groups estimate could be as high as 100,000 on Long Island - will not be tolerated. Those who back Cooper say his plan does the same as Beedenbender's without the inherent anti-immigrant overtones.

Cooper's bill contains many of the same conditions as Beedenbender's. Both require licensed contractors to prove they paid all applicable federal and state taxes. But Cooper's version makes no mention of making contractors determine whether the workers are in the country legally.

The introduction of Cooper's bill could allow critics to attempt to table Beedenbender's bill on Tuesday and wait until they can also consider Cooper's, which cannot be voted on until June 10.

Beedenbender (D-Centereach), a former aide to County Executive Steve Levy, won election in November with strong backing from his former boss, who has cemented his political reputation by appealing to the county's heavy anti-illegal immigration sentiment.

Schneiderman said he would have supported the Beedenbender bill had Cooper not introduced his bill.

"I think it would be not particularly diplomatic if we rush Beedenbender's bill through when there's a version that accomplishes the same thing and has a far broader base of support," he said.

Nationwide issue

Beedenbender's bill is one of scores nationwide that state and local governments have considered since Congress last year failed to pass the immigration reform bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants, said Laureen Laglagaron, a policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute in Washington.

The economic and social impact of the laws that have been enacted is unclear, Laglagaron said.

"It's complicated by the overall economic crisis we're in," she said. "If you do see negative economic effects, it's hard to argue that it's because of immigration and not because of the mortgage crisis."

The constitutionality of these laws is also unclear, though a federal judge in 2007 overturned a Hazelton, Pa., ordinance that forbid undocumented immigrants from living or working in the town.

Meanwhile, the federal government has launched an investigation into the construction industry on Long Island, looking into whether contractors avoid taxes by paying undocumented workers off the books.

Divided legislature

In Suffolk, the competing bills have split legislators. Nine legislators last week said they are in favor of Beedenbender's proposal and eight said they back Cooper's. Ten votes are required for any action in the legislature.