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Two months after County Executive Steve Levy announced massive sting operations against unlicensed contractors in Suffolk, advocates say they have cast a chill over the immigrant community because police conducting the raids will require contractors to show proof – "I-9" forms – that their employees have legal authorization to work.
The move may prompt fearful landscape, home improvement and construction contractors to stop hiring both undocumented and documented immigrants, preventing them from being able to support their families in Latin America, leaders of nonprofits that work with immigrants say.
"We did not think cracking down on contractors would be an excuse to crack down on immigrants," says Nadia Marin-Molina of the Workplace Project. Levy is "doing something and it's just wrong."
Levy responded that he is merely enforcing the law, and that the sting operations are aimed at the contractors and not the immigrants. But he says authorities can't enforce licensing and sales tax laws, and then turn a blind eye to federal immigration laws.
"I'm not going to stop our crackdown on unlicensed contractors simply because a person who is here illegally may get displaced," he says. "It's a ludicrous proposition."
The Suffolk executive announced the start of the sting operation against contractors and cash businesses such as flea markets in late August, with authorities questioning 380 contractors at their workplaces over six days and handing out 80 summonses.
Levy says this week that the operation did not initially include asking for I-9s, but that future phases will. Responding to advocates' concerns that immigrants will be unfairly singled out, Levy spokesman Ed Dumas says authorities do not plan to turn in to federal immigration officials the names of undocumented immigrants employed by businesses targeted in the raids.
As part of his plans, Levy says he is also studying how he can "deputize" Suffolk County police officers so they can enforce federal immigration laws. The idea has proven controversial around the country, with some police departments refusing to do so because it alienates immigrant communities they depend on for information about crimes.
Levy said it would be one mechanism to address the problem of illegal immigration. He hopes to run a pilot program with deputized police officers that, among other things, would allow officers to more easily detain undocumented immigrants who commit certain crimes.
Advocacy groups say they are in favor of cracking down on unscrupulous contractors who fail to pay workers owed wages, for instance. But they oppose enforcing some laws on immigration status because they contend they are unworkable. They also say police promised them over the summer that the raids would not target immigrants.
Marin-Molina and Irma Solis of the Workplace Project said it is virtually impossible for low-wage workers from Latin America to obtain a legal visa to come to the United States, even though their labor is crucial to the economy. They and officials from President George W. Bush on down have called for reforming the system.
Levy says that until that happens, the law is the law and must be enforced. "Too many public officials past and present have had the backbone of a wet noodle and have caved in to any extremist group," he says.
His crackdown is winning applause from some licensed contractors who say unlicensed competitors put them at a disadvantage. "We can't afford to play on an equal playing field," says Bill MacIntyre, 63, a home improvement contractor from Medford. He said he pays $2,000 a year for insurance alone.
But another contractor, who asked not to be named, said including immigration issues in the crackdown is a mistake because Long Island's economy can't function without the undocumented workers who mow lawns, build houses, wash dishes in restaurants and work in factories.
"Tell Levy to supply the workers to get the work done, because he's not going to be able to do it," the contractor says.
As a result of the raids, undocumented Mexican immigrants in Farmingville have stopped cooperating with police in turning in the names of unscrupulous contractors because they fear they will be deported, Solis says. She adds that until now the workers had been developing a close working relationship with authorities.
Day laborer Rogelio Cruces Escamilla, 36, echoed her thoughts as he stood in the rain this week at a 7-Eleven on Horseblock Road waiting for a job. "It could break the relationship between the immigrants and the police and at the same time there may be more abuse by the contractors" since they feel authorities are on their side, he says.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer says the immigrants should not be alarmed because the stings are focusing on contractors and not laborers. He says, "I'm not checking their status."