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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-02-14 - AGENDA REPORTS - CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION (2)NEW BUSINESS DATE: SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT: Agenda Item: _ //_ CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT 4 '0 - City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: Carl Newton February 14, 2006 CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION City Manager's Office RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council receive presentation from the City Attorney. BACKGROUND At the January 24, 2006 City Council meeting, Councilmember Smyth inquired about possible actions the City or the Sheriffs Department may take in response to frequent concerns expressed by the community regarding undocumented workers in the City. Some of the ideas discussed included adding language to standard City contracts regarding illegal workers and to look into options that the Sheriffs Department might have to enforce immigration laws similar to the efforts in the City of Costa Mesa. The City Attorney's Office has looked into the options proposed and has the following to report. DISCUSSION Contractual Requirement to Use Workers Legally Present in United States Councilmember Smyth requested that the City's contracts adequately ensure the use of legally documented workers for all City projects and to review contract language. A review of the solicitation forms (request for quote, invitation to bid and request for proposal) used by Purchasing include a general requirement to comply with all federal, state and local laws and the solicitation for janitorial services includes a specific clause regarding the employment of illegal residents. A review of service contracts determined most of the templates also include a general requirement to comply with all applicable laws. These paragraphs provide the minimum legal protection. RECEIVED To further strengthen this, a change to solicitation and contract forms has been made by staff per the Council's request. A paragraph added to these documents which outlines the City's support of the Protection of Resident Workers has been added. The following paragraph has been approved by the City Attorney for inclusion to contracts and solicitations and reads as follows: Protection of Resident Workers The City of Santa Clarita actively supports the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) which includes provisions addressing employment eligibility, employment verification, and nondiscrimination. Under the INA, employers may hire only persons who may legally work in the United States (i.e., citizens and nationals of the U.S.) and aliens authorized to work in the U.S. The employer must verify the identity and employment eligibility of anyone to be hired, which includes completing the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9). The Contractor shall establish appropriate procedures and controls so no services or products under the Contract Documents will be performed or manufactured by any worker who is not legally eligible to perform such services or employment. 2. Sheriff Department Enforcement of Federal Immigration Laws A. Costa Mesa and Orange County Sheriffs Department's Practices Regarding Questioning and Enforcement of Persons about Immigration Status The Costa Mesa Police Department "CMPD" and Orange County Sheriff's Department "OCSD" are considering changes to their practices that would allow more in-depth questioning regarding the immigration status of suspects and arrestees. None of these changes have been put in place yet, and are still under discussion. The CMPD's proposed changes would allow specific trained officers to question "serious" felony suspects regarding their immigration status. The officers would not need to wait until booking, or even arrest, but could ask once a person was suspected of committing a serious felony. "Serious" felonies have not yet been defined under this plan. Additionally, only particular officers could engage in this questioning. The plan specifies that only detectives, officers investigating gangs, and custody officers would be given the training, and could then engage in the questioning. In order for OCSD or CMPD to engage in these new practices, the agencies would need to enter into Memorandums Of Understanding (MOUS) with the United States Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE", formerly the I.N.S.) that would provide for training and enforcement of these laws. The agencies are currently in discussions with ICE to enter into such MOUS, but the MOUS are not finalized. B. Los Angeles Sheriffs Department Practice Regarding Questioning Persons about Immigration Status The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department ("LASD"), which contracts with the City to provide the City's law enforcement services, has a practice to enforce federal immigration laws in the rare circumstance when the Department can derive collateral law enforcement benefit from such enforcement. The LASD's general practice is to only ask about immigration status at the time of booking and the time of processing. At booking, a custody officer will ask an arrestee for his or her nationality as part of a standard battery of informational questions, including date of birth and full name. The department must ask each person's nationality in order to determine whether the person is a foreign national and accordingly the department should contact a foreign consulate. If the arrestee is later sent to a jail facility, the arrestee will likely be "processed" at that jail facility. The department will ask the arrestee about national status as part of this processing, again as part of a battery of questions designed to obtain basic information about persons in custody. It is also important to note that the LASD has a current MOU with I.C.E. This MOU provides that LASD officers may conduct the booking and processing questions described above. It does not provide that LASD officers may engage in broader questioning of suspects for immigration violations. FISCAL IMPACT No fiscal impact has been identified for this item.