The Orange County city of Mission Viejo has decided on its own to follow up on at least some of the failed federal immigration laws. It’s an idea that may catch on. Immigrant-rights groups are appalled, but they shouldn’t be. The effort is pretty mild, and could help refine a national screening system known as the Basic Pilot Program. Mission Viejo’s ordinance requires that new city employees and companies contracting with the city screen their employees through Basic Pilot to verify they are legally allowed to work in this country.
Basic Pilot is a computer screening system started experimentally in 1996 and expanded to all 50 states in 2004. Ordinarily, participation is voluntary, and thousands of employers, public and private, use it. What’s different about Mission Viejo is that the city will require private businesses, at least those working for the city, to screen their employees.
Ana Maria Patino, an activist lawyer who lives in Laguna Beach, told the Orange County Register the ordinance is anti-immigrant and anti-business. But Nancy Cho, president of the Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce, said she thinks the city’s approach is “just great.” Some of the city’s bigger employees are using Basic Pilot. Orange County’s Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto, a supporter of illegal immigrants’ rights, issued a statement saying Mission Viejo’s ordinance “further confirms the need for a comprehensive immigration reform” and is punitive.
Amen, bishop, except for the punitive part. Hardly anybody would disagree about the need for reform, depending, of course, on what kind we end up with. If any. The likeliest outcome nationally is that there is going to be a long wait for anything of substance. What’s needed are secure borders that neither would-be workers nor terrorists can easily penetrate, together with immigration controls that provide enough documented workers to meet the nation’s job needs.
As for Basic Pilot, it is a useful service. Employers simply supply the Social Security number of a job applicant to make sure it is valid, and that the applicant is in the country legally. Opponents complain that Basic Pilot’s databases are inaccurate and outdated. But there is no better way to improve them than to use them.
We’ll soon see how well Mission Viejo’s new ordinance works. Cities can’t have their own immigration policies and they can’t enforce federal immigration laws. But there’s no reason they can’t check their own employees’ legal status, including employees of contractors who work for them. Incidentally, there’s no reason any business, large or small, shouldn’t use Basic Pilot. Remember Wal-Mart’s embarrassment when it turned out some of its contractors were using illegals? Wal-Mart simply changed its policy to require that contractors use Basic Pilot, and the problem was solved. Owners of small businesses can simply go to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Web site and follow some simple online directions.
No matter which side of the immigration debate you’re on, there is nothing wrong with following the law. Federal or local.
