Council Tries to Stop Immigrant Audit

The Berkeley City Council called on the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday, asking the department not to audit the immigration status of the 500 workers at Pacific Steel Castings foundry in West Berkeley — an audit the Glass, Molders, Pottery International Union says is illegal.

“Berkeley has a reputation of being welcoming of all people, including people who are not U.S. citizens,” Councilmember Jesse Arreguin told Patch after the resolution passed. “We have a sanctuary policy. We as a city government will not cooperate with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security], and the deportation of our residents, and certainly this audit is in conflict with the spirit of our sanctuary policy.”

The resolution, approved 6-3 by the council, says: The I-9 audit “at Pacific Steel can lead to the termination of many of the foundry’s workers, and will do irreparable harm to them and to our community... These are skilled workers ... [who] inject hundreds of thousands of dollars into our local economy each month and support other businesses and families. The company and the workers pay taxes that support local schools and services. If the I-9 audit goes forward and workers are fired as a result, we could lose money that Berkeley desperately needs in these challenging economic times. Pacific Steel also has suppliers whose businesses could also be harmed... An immigration audit leading to the firing of these workers will not create a single job and instead will force workers into an underground economy where illegal wages and conditions are prevalent.”

Councilmembers Gordon Wozniak, Laurie Capitelli and Susan Wengraf abstained on the resolution. Wozniak said he supports the Obama administration’s efforts to focus on the employers rather than “putting the burden on the individual immigrant.” Moreover, he said he doubts that there are so many undocumented workers at PSC that the company would have to shut its doors. “I don’t think we should be going against federal laws,” Wozniak said.

Wengraf said she abstained because she didn’t have enough information on exactly what was happening at Pacific Steel and why the audit was taking place at this particular time.

A number of Pacific Steel workers have come forward to say they are undocumented, Arreguin said, noting, “There’s legitimate fear that some of those workers will be terminated as a result of the audit. Some of these people have worked for Pacific Steel for a decade or more and have good-paying union jobs and support their families.”

ICE, under the Obama administration, carries out fewer factory raids to detain and deport individual immigrants without proper documents than it did under President George Bush. Instead, it targets employers who hire undocumented workers, threatening them with fines, jail time and the loss of government contracts. Pacific Steel Management is cooperating with ICE and also working with the union on the question, according to PSC spokesperson Elizabeth Jewell.

Ignacio de la Fuente, vice president of the Glass, Molders, Pottery International Union said in a phone interview that the audit is illegal. “DHS and ICE have their own internal operating instructions,” he said. “They cannot initiate an audit when a labor dispute is in progress.” Pacific Steel employees have been working without a contract since March, with outstanding questions of wages and contributions for benefits.

“In our opinion, the audit is improper; we’re using the tools at our disposal to stop the audit,” de la Fuente said. The union has taken the question to the National Labor Relations Board. De la Fuente, also a member of the Oakland City Council, said he was bringing a similar resolution to Oakland next week.

Some two dozen PSC workers came to the city council meeting to show support for the resolution. Josie Camacho, executive secretary treasurer of the Alameda County Labor Council, was also there.

Urging the city council to adopt the resolution, Camacho said it was in synch with the labor council’s mission “to improve the lives of working families, by bringing economic justice to our workplaces, and social justice to our communities.” Camacho added, “These workers are good, decent people. They are not criminals... They pay their taxes and contribute greatly to the local economy.”

Janice Schroeder from the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, also addressed the council. Schroeder has often stood before the council to complain about noxious emissions from the plant near her home and underscored that the resolution corresponded to the Alliance’s goal: protecting the health of both the community and the workers at Pacific Steel.

More than 2,000 companies have been audited by ICE since the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, according to the Wall Street Journal. Another 1,000 companies, including PSC, were alerted of the upcoming audit in mid June. DHS did not return Patch's email request for comment.

De la Fuente characterized the I-9 audits as an electoral game. “The presidential elections are coming up,” he said. “The escalation of this type of audit is a political football.”