Immigration deal reachedState Senate, House negotiators hammer out tentative compromise By Yvonne Wenger (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Immigration bill highlightsOther items in the immigration bill would: --Seek authority from the federal government for the state to enforce immigration laws. --Require jails to verify the nationality of prisoners. --Limit local governments, such as Dorchester County, from passing illegal immigration ordinances that exceed the strength of federal law or conflict with state law. --Make it a felony to harbor or transport an illegal immigrant, although the bill specifically gives a cushion to churches, health care workers and nonprofits that provide shelter and offer other forms of humanitarian work. --Provide a right to sue for lost wages, damages and attorneys fees to residents who lose their job and are replaced within six weeks by illegal workers. --Stop illegal immigrants from attending state-supported colleges and universities and prohibit them from receiving state-funded scholarships. --Give the state grand jury power to investigate identity theft cases that involve illegal immigrants, and develop a path for victims to sue. COLUMBIA — The state's long-awaited plan for reining in illegal immigration is expected to hit Gov. Mark Sanford's desk within the next 10 days. House and Senate negotiators reached a tentative compromise Wednesday that would penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, along with a lengthy list of provisions that carve out enforcement powers for the state. "We've been working on this for almost two years," said Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, who served as chairman of the Legislature's conference committee. "It's a very complicated legal matter. It drives a lot of passion." The bill must get a final vote in conference committee, likely to come next week, before it is sent back to the House and Senate chambers for final approval and then on to Sanford for his signature. The governor urged the Legislature this spring to get the bill to his desk as soon as possible. Critics point to shortcomings in the bill. In a review of the legislation, The Post and Courier found that half of its provisions restate existing law while others create an enforcement nightmare. Still, legislators defend the compromise bill, and point to the legal limitations imposed by the federal government. "I think the bill goes a long way to cracking down on the illegal immigration problem," said Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms. "It goes about as far as state government can go." The biggest point of contention among lawmakers has been how to treat private employers. The legislative negotiators reached a consensus by allowing private employers to use a variety of methods to verify the legal status of their employees, including the federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form and E-Verify. Both methods have their critics. Campsen and others have said that allowing the I-9 form as an acceptable means of worker verification creates a loophole because the federal government fails to check whether the Social Security numbers and names provided for I-9 forms are valid. Other legislators were concerned that if employers were required to only rely on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's online worker verification program, E-Verify, and not the I-9 form, there would be problems. E-Verify, a relatively new system, has too high an error rate, some legislators argued. Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Goose Creek, said, though, the bottom line is the legislation would make it a crime for employers to knowingly and willfully hire illegal immigrants. "That's the key," Campbell said. The penalties for getting caught would include a felony punishable by five years in prison for filing false documents. Sanford's press secretary, Joel Sawyer, said the governor is encouraged that the conference committee is moving forward. "Two of the markers the governor laid out were the idea of a strong verification system for private employers, and the idea of home rule," Sawyer said. "We still think both of those things are important, and we're going to be taking a close look at this new version after the committee completes its work." To date, more than 40 states have passed laws aimed at forcing out illegal immigrants, although Alfredo Ayala Jr. is one who believes the economy is the de facto force. Ayala, who calls himself a concerned citizen for the Hispanic community, attended the committee meeting in Columbia. He said he knows families who have left South Carolina because the economy is making it hard for them to make a living. "We just have to pray and hope for the best," said Ayala, a U.S. citizen born in Texas, who has lived in Bluffton for the last 14 years. Reach Yvonne Wenger at ywenger@postandcourier.com or 803-799-9051. |
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Comments
This article has 14 comment(s)
Posted by Harpo on April 3, 2008 at 5:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
" --Limit local governments, such as Dorchester County,
from passing illegal immigration ordinances that exceed
the strength of federal law or conflict with state law."
There's the concession to the special interest groups for
illegal aliens.
Also, requiring jails to verify citizenship may get
expensive since some of those lowlifes have absolutely
no ID at all on them when they're arrested. I still
support this measure, though.
All in all, this is a promising start. I hope these
laws have some teeth to them.
Posted by charlene68 on April 3, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If the jail can not verify the identity then what are they going to do let them run free or what ?
Posted by ChrisRobin on April 3, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Goose Creek, said, though, the bottom line is the legislation would make it a crime for employers to knowingly and willfully hire illegal immigrants.
Now here's a nice little loophole- if companies can't verify the authenticity of the documentation, then how can they prosecuted for "knowlingly and willfully hiring illegal immigrants"? All they have to do is provide proof that they checked with the standards available and they're off the hook, even if the illegals present phony documentation.
Posted by carolinadude on April 3, 2008 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We knew this would end up being a chamber of commerce bill. Interestingly, the compormise came after the filing for June primaries. This is "politics as usual".
Posted by give_me_a_chance on April 3, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No solutions!
Officials are running a popularity contest, and the people are paying for it.
The funny thing is, we know what's going to happen to this bill. What a waste of time!
Call it a "feel good" bill instead!!!
Posted by luvmydogs59 on April 3, 2008 at 6:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Make it a felony to harbor or transport an illegal immigrant, although the bill specifically gives a cushion to churches, health care workers and nonprofits that provide shelter and offer other forms of humanitarian work."
I foresee an overflow in the churches and the shelters...
Posted by BKLYNIRISH on April 3, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"--Limit local governments, such as Dorchester County, from passing illegal immigration ordinances that exceed the strength of federal law or conflict with state law."
Disgraceful. Dorchester County had the guts to take a stand, and now the state is going to prevent them, and presumably others, from doing so.
Posted by JohnS on April 3, 2008 at 9:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It takes almost a year for a social security mismatch to cause a letter to be sent out. Usually by that time the worker is long gone and the information is documented accordingly. It sure beats paying those old $15.00 to $17.00 wages an hour for local framers. These guys will do most anything for $10.00 or less an hour. They also don't cut out after 2:00 pm on Friday. It's also nice to know most of the money is being sent back home to help the family.
Posted by Harpo on April 4, 2008 at 6:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Not all, though. Some of it is spent in Pancho's whorehouse
and grill on cheap beer and some goes toward a cheap pistola
and smoky pickup truck (less insurance, of course). And
some ends up going into pockets of the Mobile Pharmaceutical
Vendors.
Low wages be damned; we need to get rid of illegal people
around these parts.
Posted by concernedbusinessowner on April 4, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
as a business owner, we follow the laws that are in placed for us for hiring employees. I have all employees turn in 2 forms of ids, all proper paperwork required. quarterly reports are sent every quarter with all employees identification, with payments in full to the state and federal governments for their taxes. I have had employees working for us for over 4 years, and when the employee leaves our employment and the money stops, we THEN receive a letter from the government stating that the social security numbers do not match and please check with the employee about his documentation. with that letter it then states that we are not allowed by law for firing the employee, if they are still in our employment. So what is a business owner to do. The businesses that need to be checked, are the ones that hire immigrants knowingly, and paying them under the table or under a 1099. When the government decides to pay the employer a salary for playing an INS agent, then we can talk. When immigrants are arrested by our state police, they are then released back into society, instead of being deported, So if the police and employees of the state, are not mandated to follow any action why should we.
Posted by ChrisPia on April 4, 2008 at 4:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How about Law enforcement Verifying The Identification at Local departments for a small fee if Possible? Just a thought.
Posted by BKLYNIRISH on April 4, 2008 at 5:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"When immigrants are arrested by our state police, they are then released back into society, instead of being deported..."
Frustrating, isn't it?
Posted by BKLYNIRISH on April 4, 2008 at 5:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"How about Law enforcement Verifying The Identification at Local departments for a small fee if Possible? Just a thought."
I wonder how many business owners would care enough to be willing to pay that fee, knowing well that the law won't be able to attack them if they hire illegals anyway.
God bless our General Assembly for providing us with this practically toothless legislation.
Posted by concernedbusinessowner on April 4, 2008 at 7:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
you also have to be careful of racial profiling, when dealing with immigrants of all sorts. I have had a gentleman from peru, working for me over a year. He had all documentation, 3 forms of ids, and he was constantly harrassed by the public for him to show them his credentials. Does the immigrant bill going to affect the spanish background, or are they going to be checking all germans that work at the bosch facility for their credentials. What about the chinese resturants? Yes something has to be done regarding immigration for everyone. A plan needs to be put in place for a business owner so we don't have to wonder if this guy is legal or not. We have enough to worry about running a business. Let the government handle our borders, don't make us be the ones to do their work for them. I pay enough in taxes for some kind of program to be started. The problem is if they do get rid of all the workers here in the US, if you think that prices are high now, just wait to we get rid of our labor force. Why do we go after just the mexican immigrants that are in our country, complaining that they are the ones taking all the jobs. what about all the germans at places like bosch, arabics running our gas stations, and all the chinese workers at the resturants, that bring in their entire families to work. Why isn't this bill being aimed at them? Don't even get me started about so called legal immigrants that are allowed by our government to get be tax free for new businesses for 3 years, of which they then renew that business for every member of their family. A US born citizen starts a business, we end up paying the highest taxes possible when starting a business, NO CUTS FOR US!