Tea party behind E-Verify push

What should be the city of Plano's role in assuring no illegal immigrants work in the city?

Members of the North Texas Tea Party say the city should try and keep illegal immigrants out of the city's workforce and that they have a simple solution to bring that to reality.

"Our goal is for the city to use whatever mechanisms are business-friendly to encourage or 'incentivize' the use of E-Verify in Plano," said Michael Openshaw of the North Texas Tea Party. "E-Verify is a very good system that is fairly efficient and is not overly intrusive. Applicants already fill out I-9 forms, and E-Verify uses that info. All the system does is validate the info on the I-9 form."

E-Verify is a free, Internet-based employment verification system administered by the Department of Homeland Security. Employers fill out the applicant's name, date of birth, Social Security number and date of hire, and the system confirms the employee's identity. The process takes only a minute or two to complete for each employee.

The system has been in use by the city of Plano since 2009 and the results have been positive, said Deputy City Manager LaShon Ross.

"Our human resources department uses it and say it is a very easy process to use," Ross said. "Before our employees could use the system, they had to attend a webinar to learn about the legislation behind E-Verify, as well as what the purpose of E-Verify was. They also must complete an online refresher course each year. Everyone seems to have positive comments about the program."

Opponents of the mandatory use of E-Verify say that since the program can only be used after a person is hired, it still creates a sometimes-lengthy appeals process if the worker's information cannot be confirmed.

An independent audit of E-Verify by Westat in 2009 and 2010 found that the system was accurate about 96 percent of the time, with the other 4 percent being inaccurate mainly due to identity theft. When looking at just the approvals, the system was correct more than 99 percent of the time.

The initial tea party plan presented to the Plano City Council candidates called for each business in the city to pay the city $10,015 per employee. If the company used E-Verify, $10,000 would be returned to the business. Openshaw said that plan was the idea of one member of the group and not the group's official plan.

"That proposal was put forth by one person, and we didn't all buy into it," Openshaw said. "Personally, I found those numbers to be way excessive; however, I still like the concept of the city requiring the use of E-Verify."

On Monday, Openshaw presented a new proposal, which he believes is more realistic for the city to implement.

"I think the program should be tied to the tax incentives that are offered by the Plano Economic Development Board," he said. "There are already requirements that businesses must meet to receive the tax incentives, and I think one single item should be added, requiring companies that receive incentives to use E-Verify. That is not asking too much for a process that takes less than two minutes per employee."

While the city does not require the use of E-Verify to receive tax incentives, the city does require that all businesses that apply for incentives swear they have no illegal workers.

"The city looks at the incentives on a case-by-case basis and will offer incentives if they believe the business will improve the tax base and create employment opportunities for the citizens of Plano," said Sally Bane, executive director of the Plano Economic Development Board. "There are a number of compliance requirements with any project or agreement that the city undertakes. Each agreement also has annual certifications to ensure the business is in compliance."

One of the items in the agreement cites Chapter 2264 of the Texas Government Code. The code requires that each business that requests public subsidies swears it does not knowingly employ undocumented workers.

Bane said if the company is found to be in violation of Chapter 2264, the company must repay any public subsidies it has received, plus interest. She said she feels the current agreement is effective.

With E-Verify being a free program, Openshaw said it should be an easy decision for the city to make.

"This is a sensible approach," he said. "To some degree this is about immigration enforcement, but there is more to it than that. This also helps prevent identity theft and could help prevent businesses from hiring a felon who is attempting to hide their violent criminal past."

Openshaw also said that by decreasing the number of illegal immigrant workers, the unemployment rate, which currently sits at 9.1 percent, would begin to decline.

"To use this is a slam dunk," Openshaw said.

How the candidates feel about E-Verify

By Jessica Rush, jrush@acnpapers.com

This story has been updated from the Thursday print edition of the Plano Star-Courier.

What started as a mild runoff campaign has become more heated as the two remaining candidates for Plano City Council Place 7 form opinions about E-Verify.

Greg Myer and Pat Gallagher were propelled into the spotlight early this week when the two disagreed about the use of the federal program. Gallagher openly opposes creating a city ordinance that would require Plano businesses to check the work eligibility status of their employees through E-Verify. Myer, who at first supported a business license ordinance with an E-Verify component, has now reconsidered.

"They did a little backpedaling," Gallagher said, referencing a previous proposal from the North Texas Tea Party that would have created fines for businesses not using E-Verify.

"It's gone from a $10,000 penalty [per employee] to now we'll give incentives to businesses that use E-Verify," Gallagher said.

He called the ordinance a bad idea, considering E-Verify is still a trial program. Gallagher said businesses considering relocation to North Texas would look past Plano if they saw the extra "E-Verify hurdle" was required to get economic incentives or tax abatements.

"If you look at E-Verify on the surface it's not a bad idea, but the people of Plano are saying, 'It's a federal issue; get back to talking about the city of Plano,'" Gallagher said. "We have congressmen and senators who focus on federal issues and representatives that focus on state issues. We need to stay the heck out of immigration issues."

Myer released a statement Wednesday evening about the E-Verify ordinance, adjusting his stance.

"In the last few days, I have spoken to dozens of Plano citizens, community leaders, business owners, the Collin County Association of Realtors and the Chamber of Commerce," Myer wrote. "Based on these conversations, it has become very clear to me that a business license ordinance in Plano is not a good approach, and I have decided [to] oppose any effort to pursue this."

Still, Myer said he is in favor of coming up with "an effective and reasonable approach to encourage and reward E-Verify usage within the business community of Plano."

Regardless of whether an E-Verify ordinance is ever brought before the council, both candidates said they are seeing a greater-than-expected turnout at the polls during early voting, which ends Tuesday.

"Maybe this issue brought some more people to life," Gallagher said. "I think that's super."

Myer said there could be another explanation.

"I think it's because you have two quality candidates," Myer said. "I have faith in Plano's voters, and I know they care deeply about their city as I do."

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