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GUEST: Monica Guizar, Employment Policy Attorney with the National Immigration Law Center

Last Monday, Mission Viejo’s City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to require city contractors to screen their employees’ immigration status. By a vote of five to zero, the affluent Orange County city of Mission Viejo has become the first in the state and one of the few in the nation to approve such an ordinance. Starting in July, city contractors would be compelled to participate in the Department of Homeland Security’s Basic Pilot Program in order to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the U.S. If they fail to do so, they risk losing their contracts. The program has been criticized on the grounds that the federal databases are outdated and could prevent even documented workers from being approved. Worse, the measure will likely encourage racial profiling. A similar measure passed in Hazelton, Pennsylvania is being legally challenged by those who say immigration law should only be enforced by the federal government.