U.S. candidate wants utilitiy companies to check the immigration status of their customers

Well it sounds a good idea actually, since no utility company or for that matter, state or national body or corporation, should EVER provide ANYONE with a job, services or benefits without first ascertaining their legitimate legal status to actually be a customer otherwise I guess you could argue that THEY are aiding and abetting a crime just like you would say if our Home Office Minister employed an illegal immigrant without a passport check. - Oh, heck they did that didn't they. In fact our government hired 5,000 illegal immigrants as cleaners and security staff at the same time they were telling us their policy was British jobs for British workers.

But hey, if this guy gets his own way then maybe his idea will catch on.

Maybe some twat in our unelected dictatorship masquerading as a government could bother their own backside to adopt the same practice here rather than keep telling the public lies that they are bothered about the people who were stupid enough to vote for them, but I won't hold my breath!

Many illegal immigrants could have a hard time getting power, water, natural-gas or phone service at their homes in Arizona if a political candidate gets his way.

Barry Wong, a Republican candidate for the Arizona Corporation Commission, told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday that, if elected, he would require regulated utilities to check the immigration status of customers, a move he says would keep costs down for other customers.

"There is a cost ratepayers shouldn't have to bear because of the illegal-immigrant population," Wong said.

Wong, a lawyer and four-term member of the state House of Representatives, was appointed to a temporary spot on the commission in 2006.

Corporation Commission members have constitutional authority to regulate utilities like Arizona Public Service Co., Tucson Electric Power Co. and private water companies. Two of the statewide seats are up for election this year, and six candidates are running.

Wong said that utilities would have to spend money to check immigration but that he believes the cost of such a program would be outweighed by the savings on power infrastructure. And he thinks the issue deserves further study.

Serving a growing number of people with power, he said, raises utility rates because it requires building new power plants. He said asking utilities not to serve illegal immigrants could protect other ratepayers from utility hikes.

"The question is: Is it the right thing to do in terms of rates?" he said.

Wong said he suggests checking only the immigration status of residential customers, not businesses.

He recognizes the idea is controversial amid the ongoing debate over Arizona's new immigration law, Senate Bill 1070. The law states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest shall, when practicable, ask about a person's legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.

"I'm sure there will be criticism about human-rights violations," Wong said of his utility proposal. "Is power or natural gas or any type of utility we regulate, is that a right that people have? It is not a right. It is a service."

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For my money, any business, any bureaucrat, any person or any service provider, who provides services to anyone who doesn't have a right to be here, are themselves aiding another in the commission of a crime.

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. George Orwell