MARIETTA - Cobb Chairman Sam Olens disputed allegations that the county is violating state law requiring officials to verify the immigration status of applicants for public benefits, such as business licenses.

"We have been absolutely checking on the business licenses," of which the county has issued about 1,098, he said Wednesday. But the chairman held firm to his position that a business license is different from an occupational tax certificate (OTC), of which the county has issued about 27,668. The county does not check the immigration status of those applicants.

"The term (business license) is used generically, that's true," Olens said. "But legally, they're different." A business license is granted to businesses that require some oversight, such as taxi companies and amusement rides. An OTC is simply a registration of the business so the county can collect taxes, Olens said.

The issue was brought to light by D.A. King, a local activist against illegal immigration. Last week he filed a civil suit against the county seeking full compliance with the 2006 Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act. That law, sponsored by state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), requires governments to verify through a federal database that applicants for public benefits are in the country legally.

On June 30, the county asked Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker to issue an opinion regarding the issue. Baker's office confirmed receipt of the letter, but Baker has not yet issued an opinion.

"My position is, if the attorney general says we should be doing it, then we're going to automatically start doing it, and not wait for a judge," Olens said.

But Olens said there are a couple of reasons the county does not already verify the OTC applicants.

For one, he said, state statutes limit what information the county can ask of an OTC applicant, and outside counsel has advised county leaders that they can not legally request immigration information.

"If we do, we may or may not be violating (another) law," Olens said.

Logistics are also an issue. The 27,668 holders of OTCs can now renew their certificates online.

"Am I able to put a box on the Internet where they check that they're legally here?" Olens said. "I'm not comfortable with that."

Also, "I don't think it's appropriate use of taxpayer money for me to hire the employees to check all the affidavits," he said. "People like going on the Internet and doing renewals. But I'm willing to bet a sizeable percentage don't file if they have to come back into the office.

"It doesn't seem that the folks submitting the documents are the ones here illegally," he said.

Ultimately, Olens said, the issue of checking OTCs is not doing anything to stem the tide of illegal immigrants.

"I agree we should do everything we can to keep businesses from hiring illegals," he said. But verifying the immigration status of the person issued a certificate "tells us nothing about the business's employees.

"It's not solving the problem."

Olens did agree with King that the county was unclear in its distinction between business licenses and OTCs. He said as soon as he realized the county used one form for both, "I said, to stop the confusion, put them on separate forms," which the county began using this week. The county has also changed its signs, replacing "Business Licenses" with "Business Registration."

"Heck, he was 100 percent right that the form was confusing," Olens said of King.

But the chairman said Cobb is already doing more than any other government to stem the tide of illegal immigrants, citing boarding-house regulations as one example. And Cobb was one of the first governments in the state to enroll in the federal database program after the state law was passed, he said.

"What jurisdiction has tried to do as much as Cobb already has?" Olens said.

While Olens said checking the legal status of immigrants might be good politics and public policy, he said he doesn't feel the businesses that are submitting documents to the county are illegal.

"If we're out to get illegals, I don't see this as an efficient way to tackle the problem," he said.

He said of the almost 30,000 occupational tax certificates, he estimated "hardly any" are held by illegal immigrants.

Olens was also highly critical of federal actions against illegal immigration.

"If the federal government was involved in the first place, we wouldn't be having this conversation," he said. "The federal government has been inadequate."

ahungerford@mdjonline.com

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