Readers Write 03/11
IMMIGRATION
Access to verification program is limited
I found the AJC article “Strict immigration law lacks ‘teeth’ ” (News, March 2) somewhat misleading regarding the comments made by the district attorney. The reporter spoke with my staff yet failed to add comments explaining why the course of action proposed by the district attorney was not feasible.
E-Verify is a program through which employers may check the immigration status of individuals they intend to employ. Access to this program is limited to the actual employer. In the case of workers on a construction project, only the contractor or subcontractor employing the worker is authorized to use this system.
Prior to beginning the expansion at the Cobb County jail, we talked with immigration authorities about utilizing the 287(g) program to verify the immigration status of individuals hired by Turner and its subcontractors to work on the project. We were advised that this would not be allowed. Under our 287(g) agreement, we do not have the authority to check the legal status of anyone that is not arrested and brought into jail custody.
Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren
GOVERNMENT
Independence often carries a high price tag
I wish to offer a warning on whether or not Milton County should be re-created.
I formerly lived in northern New Jersey. My property taxes on a 2,500-square-foot house on a postage stamp-sized lot were over $11,000. They’re now over $16,000. That part of New Jersey is a series of contiguous small cities. My lot literally formed a corner with four cities. There are few, if any, unincorporated areas like we have in much of Georgia. Each city had its own city government, fire department, police department, school system, roads department, library system, etc. — obviously, a costly redundancy in services. I know the residents of north Fulton want home rule, but they need to be aware that independence can carry a very high price tag.
Greg Berry, Marietta
DAYLIGHT SAVING
Children’s safety more important than energy
Here it comes again — daylight saving time. In my opinion, it’s time to review this practice and examine why it continues. Allegedly started to save energy in the 1940s, it seems to me to have lost its meaning now, when there are even more uses for electrical energy than were dreamed of 50 or 60 years ago. If the purpose of DST is to conserve energy, it seems we would be using more electricity in the mornings, because we have to have lights on. Where does the savings occur?
Children will be waiting in the dark for buses or walking to school, which will be in session for two to three more months. Have our legislators thought of this? I’ve read that more car accidents occur in the week that DST begins. Our sleep cycles are interrupted, and it takes several days to adjust, resulting in stress to our bodies and psyches.
I believe DST should be rescinded altogether, and implore the powers-that-be to revisit their decision and eliminate it. Consider the safety of our nation’s children, if nothing else. Helen P. Fredrick, Decatur
