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Politics : ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION THE FIGHT TO KEEP OUR DEMOCRACY -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (1520)	3/26/2007 6:35:39 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3197

Last week my daughter said she's been noticing large vans full of hispanics that have handicapped placards. And today, I read this: Disabled placards proliferate As more qualify for privilege, more seem to abuse system -- cities collect less at meters when drivers park for free Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, March 26, 2007 A disabled placard allows a driver to park without charge... Eufrencina Lactaoen is questioned about her disabled plac... Bay Area residents with parking privilege. Chronicle Graphic View Text Chart The number of disabled parking placards in California has more than doubled during the past decade, with 1 issued for every 16 residents. San Francisco officials recently cited the placards as one reason the city doesn't collect more money from its parking meters. People who use them don't have to feed meters. The proliferation in placards has occurred for several reasons, including an aging population and a liberal definition of the disabilities that qualify for the special parking privilege, said Mike Miller, a spokesman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Experts say there's another reason: temptation. The placards allow people to park for free at parking meters and in time-restricted spots without the fear of getting a ticket. That's enough to lure some people to break the law and use them illegitimately. Parking officials in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and other cities across California have noticed that the use of disabled placards increases as parking costs rise. On one side of one block in downtown Oakland -- 17th Street near Broadway, where off-street lots cost $10 per day -- seven of the nine metered spaces were taken by cars with disabled placards one recent morning. The ratio was similar on adjacent streets. "You know that there are some people who are just looking for a free place to park," said Francine Larkrith-Thompson, Oakland's parking manager. "Everyone is up in arms about it." She and other officials said they have no problem accommodating people with disabilities who need to be close to their destinations. "It's the people abusing the system who we have a problem with," said James Lee, assistant director of the enforcement division for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Larkrith-Thompson said she's hearing from disgruntled shopkeepers and restaurateurs miffed that parking spaces in front of their businesses are occupied all day by cars with disabled placards. Advocates for people with disabilities also are concerned that there are people misusing the placard program. "It's a real problem," said Jan Garrett, executive director of the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley. She said the general public gets riled up by so many motorists parking for free. And, she said, people who truly must park near their destinations sometimes have trouble finding a space. She also cautioned people not to make assumptions about who has a disability because ailments such as heart and lung disease, which may impair mobility, aren't always readily apparent. One of the most notorious placard abuse cases in California occurred seven years ago when 19 current and former UCLA football players were caught with improperly obtained disabled placards. Each pleaded no contest to the crime and was sentenced to two years' probation, a $1,485 fine, and 200 hours of community service. At the time, state officials pledged to crack down on misuse. But as the number of placards grows, so, apparently, does abuse. www.sfgate.com

To: John Carragher who wrote (1520)	3/29/2007 10:50:21 AM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3197

Fence execs sentenced for illegal hiring-By ELLIOT SPAGAT, 3/28/07 SAN DIEGO(AP) - Two executives at a company that once helped build a fence to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border were sentenced Wednesday to six months of home confinement for hiring undocumented workers. Mel Kay, founder, chairman and president of Golden State Fence Co., and manager Michael McLaughlin had pleaded guilty in federal court to knowingly hiring illegal aliens. U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz ordered each to serve 1,040 hours of community service and spend three years on probation. Kay, 64, was fined $200,000 as part of a plea agreement, and McLaughlin agreed to pay $100,000. Federal prosecutors took the rare step of seeking prison time after the men acknowledged hiring at least 10 illegal immigrants in 2004 and 2005. The charges carried a maximum possible penalty of five years in prison. However, prosecutors were unable to find a previous case in which an employer had been sent to jail for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. "Prosecution is long overdue in this area," Moskowitz said. "Honestly, the government's efforts have been at the border, not with the employer. Obviously, the government has signaled a change with this case." In December, company officials acknowledged knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed the firm would pay a $4.7 million fine, one of the largest for immigration violations. Moskowitz said he was uneasy with handing down jail time because the company did not deserve to be "the poster child" for unscrupulous employers. All of Kay's workers paid Social Security taxes and received health benefits, vacation and sick time. Many earned more than $50,000 a year. Golden State saw sales soar from $60 million in 1998 to $150 million in 2004, according to a biography of Kay provided by the company. Federal authorities said they found no evidence that illegal immigrants were hired in the late 1990s while the company built more than a mile of the 14-mile fence near a border crossing in San Diego. Government agents raided Golden State Fence's Riverside office last year and found that more than 100 were unauthorized to work — including three the company had been ordered not to employ after a 1999 audit by the government. Kay apologized before he was sentenced and described how his business suffered after the guilty pleas. Golden State was banned from government work, which accounts for 30 percent of its revenue. The company has laid off about 150 employees, leaving it with about 500 workers. "I feel I have paid a tremendous price," Kay said. "I've lost a lot of accounts. (Customers) don't want to be guilty by association." McLaughlin said he was relieved at not having to serve prison time. The company did work at military bases and other government facilities — an irony that Moskowitz noted as he considered whether to send Kay to prison. "He'd probably go to one of the camp facilities that he built the fence for," the judge said.