Green Bay heats up immigrant debate - City becomes one of largest in the nation to enact law targeting undocumented workers
Green Bay heats up immigrant debate - City becomes one of largest in the nation to enact law targeting undocumented workers
By Tim Jones
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published June 23, 2007
The business of doing business in Green Bay is changing this weekend because of a new ordinance that would let the city yank the operating licenses of employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.
Proving that immigration reform is not simply a matter of congressional gridlock and talk-radio shouting, Wisconsin's unofficial football capital added its name this week to the growing number of local communities trying to address the issue.
"Look, had Congress done their job we wouldn't have this [ordinance] in Green Bay," Mayor Jim Schmitt said Friday. "I think at this time it's the right thing to do, given what's not happening at the federal level."
The new law, set to take effect Saturday, comes amid similar local efforts around the country, including Waukegan, Ill., where the City Council on Monday authorized giving the chief of police permission to apply to Washington for authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
Many of these efforts have spawned lawsuits or questions about enforceability. A common effect of nearly all of these laws is friction with rapidly growing Hispanic communities, such as the one in Green Bay.
Luis Bello, the CEO of La Uni-k Radio, a Spanish-language radio station in northeast Wisconsin, said most people in the Hispanic community "are pretty upset about it. They feel like they're being taken advantage of, doing jobs that most Americans aren't willing to do."
Bello added: "And now they feel targeted and afraid."
The local movement aimed at regulating immigration has generally been confined to smaller towns and cities. Hazleton, Pa., population 22,000, last year approved a law that prohibited hiring or renting to illegal immigrants. That law was challenged and is before a federal district court; a similar proposal in the Chicago suburb of Carpentersville has been delayed pending the outcome of the Hazleton case.
Last year, the mayor of the western Wisconsin town of Arcadia proposed an "illegal alien task force," designed to prevent renting to undocumented immigrants. He backed down after a public outcry.
Hispanic population growing
Green Bay, with 102,000 people, is a larger entrant into the debate. Hispanics represent a rapidly growing segment of the city's population, about 7 1/2 percent, according to the Census Bureau. As Congress wrestled with immigration reform in Washington, support for the law in Green Bay grew.
Matt Hollenbeck, who heads the mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council, said the law giving the city authority to penalize businesses is little more than a "political statement."
"There are people who believe some city official is going to be patrolling the streets to pick up undocumented workers. This doesn't do that," Hollenbeck said. "And there are a lot of folks who believe this will take care of the illegal immigration problem in Green Bay -- or the impression of a problem. And it won't do that either."
Schmitt, who is attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Los Angeles, said he regrets the ill feelings that the debate has aroused.
"If there's any harassment, we'll shut it down right away. We won't allow that," Schmitt said. "We understand the city will be built on diversity; we've all got to work together. That's what this is all about."
The demographics of Northeast Wisconsin, which for generations has been overwhelmingly white, have changed in the past two decades. The city of Wausau, 90 miles to the west, opened its doors to Hmong refugees from Laos more than 25 years ago. The rapid growth of the Hmong community in Wausau spurred a backlash as the public school system struggled with an influx of students unfamiliar with English.
Doubting need for ordinance
Hollenbeck, whose council severed its ties to the mayor's office after the ordinance was approved Tuesday, said the city passed an ordinance it can't enforce to deal with a problem that doesn't exist.
"The schools are not overburdened with illegal immigrants. ... There's not a crime problem with the immigrant community. I just think it's a perception and a lot of ignorance and [City Council members] not doing their homework," he said.
City Council members said they were responding to what their constituents want. Supporters of the law say the October 2005 arrest by federal customs and immigration officers of seven Hispanic gang members helps build the case for the new law.
Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce President Paul Jadin said there is a problem with illegal immigration. Jadin, who served for eight years as Green Bay's mayor, estimates that as many as half of the area's immigrants are undocumented.
"Given the demographics, we are certainly in need of that workforce," Jadin said.
But this is a matter for Washington, not local governments, to address, he added. "Without the cooperation with the federal government, this ordinance has no teeth."
----------
tmjones@tribune.com
By Tim Jones
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published June 23, 2007
The business of doing business in Green Bay is changing this weekend because of a new ordinance that would let the city yank the operating licenses of employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.
Proving that immigration reform is not simply a matter of congressional gridlock and talk-radio shouting, Wisconsin's unofficial football capital added its name this week to the growing number of local communities trying to address the issue.
"Look, had Congress done their job we wouldn't have this [ordinance] in Green Bay," Mayor Jim Schmitt said Friday. "I think at this time it's the right thing to do, given what's not happening at the federal level."
The new law, set to take effect Saturday, comes amid similar local efforts around the country, including Waukegan, Ill., where the City Council on Monday authorized giving the chief of police permission to apply to Washington for authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
Many of these efforts have spawned lawsuits or questions about enforceability. A common effect of nearly all of these laws is friction with rapidly growing Hispanic communities, such as the one in Green Bay.
Luis Bello, the CEO of La Uni-k Radio, a Spanish-language radio station in northeast Wisconsin, said most people in the Hispanic community "are pretty upset about it. They feel like they're being taken advantage of, doing jobs that most Americans aren't willing to do."
Bello added: "And now they feel targeted and afraid."
The local movement aimed at regulating immigration has generally been confined to smaller towns and cities. Hazleton, Pa., population 22,000, last year approved a law that prohibited hiring or renting to illegal immigrants. That law was challenged and is before a federal district court; a similar proposal in the Chicago suburb of Carpentersville has been delayed pending the outcome of the Hazleton case.
Last year, the mayor of the western Wisconsin town of Arcadia proposed an "illegal alien task force," designed to prevent renting to undocumented immigrants. He backed down after a public outcry.
Hispanic population growing
Green Bay, with 102,000 people, is a larger entrant into the debate. Hispanics represent a rapidly growing segment of the city's population, about 7 1/2 percent, according to the Census Bureau. As Congress wrestled with immigration reform in Washington, support for the law in Green Bay grew.
Matt Hollenbeck, who heads the mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council, said the law giving the city authority to penalize businesses is little more than a "political statement."
"There are people who believe some city official is going to be patrolling the streets to pick up undocumented workers. This doesn't do that," Hollenbeck said. "And there are a lot of folks who believe this will take care of the illegal immigration problem in Green Bay -- or the impression of a problem. And it won't do that either."
Schmitt, who is attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Los Angeles, said he regrets the ill feelings that the debate has aroused.
"If there's any harassment, we'll shut it down right away. We won't allow that," Schmitt said. "We understand the city will be built on diversity; we've all got to work together. That's what this is all about."
The demographics of Northeast Wisconsin, which for generations has been overwhelmingly white, have changed in the past two decades. The city of Wausau, 90 miles to the west, opened its doors to Hmong refugees from Laos more than 25 years ago. The rapid growth of the Hmong community in Wausau spurred a backlash as the public school system struggled with an influx of students unfamiliar with English.
Doubting need for ordinance
Hollenbeck, whose council severed its ties to the mayor's office after the ordinance was approved Tuesday, said the city passed an ordinance it can't enforce to deal with a problem that doesn't exist.
"The schools are not overburdened with illegal immigrants. ... There's not a crime problem with the immigrant community. I just think it's a perception and a lot of ignorance and [City Council members] not doing their homework," he said.
City Council members said they were responding to what their constituents want. Supporters of the law say the October 2005 arrest by federal customs and immigration officers of seven Hispanic gang members helps build the case for the new law.
Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce President Paul Jadin said there is a problem with illegal immigration. Jadin, who served for eight years as Green Bay's mayor, estimates that as many as half of the area's immigrants are undocumented.
"Given the demographics, we are certainly in need of that workforce," Jadin said.
But this is a matter for Washington, not local governments, to address, he added. "Without the cooperation with the federal government, this ordinance has no teeth."
----------
tmjones@tribune.com
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 11:06 AM
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