Beardstown, IL – Beardstown's mayor plans a meeting with representatives from federal agencies to call for stricter immigration laws.
Bob Walters says the federal government is failing to provide local authorities with the tools to tell legal immigrants from those in the country illegally.
He says the only thing normally available is the E-Verification system, which matches a name with a social security number.
However, he says the system does not tell whether the Social Security number is being used by several different people.
He says only when a crime has been committed do local authorities have access to some of the federal law enforcement information.
Walters says Congressman Ray LaHood (R-IL) is working to set up the meeting.
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Walters says verification of legal immigration status would help both local law enforcement and social service agencies.
He believes the federal government should close the border to illegal immigration. It should also levy penalties on those who hire immigrants without proper documentation.
Walters visited Congressmen or their staffs a couple of weeks ago to call for help in stemming the flow of illegal immigrants. However, he came home with no real steps that would help his town's problem with undocumented aliens.