Sanford's welcome concern on immigration bill's 'pitfall'

Gov. Mark Sanford expressed his concern this week about a serious "pitfall" in the immigration bill now in a House-Senate conference committee. His position is indicative of a welcome and growing recognition that the legislation isn't as strong as it easily could and should be.

The flaw in the House bill was the lack of a private employer verification system. The House version only required those businesses with government contracts to verify a worker's legal status. The Senate version compounded the flaw with a private employer verification requirement that is virtually worthless.

That point has been convincingly made by two Lowcountry senators, Chip Campsen and Glenn McConnell, who sounded the "sham" alarm. The problem is a verification option known as the I-9 which is part of the discredited federal system.

Sens. Campsen and McConnell contend that their colleagues caved in to pressure from lobbyists for business interests who want to retain the relatively worthless federal I-9.

The two senators' concerns clearly got the ear of the governor who described the I-9 verification as "an ineffective system already employed by the federal government and fraught with the potential for abuse due to ID fraud." Instead, according to the governor's statement, he would favor a system similar to what was proposed by the two senators, requiring private employers to check South Carolina driver's licenses, a new S.C. version of the I-9, or to use the online E-Verify system. He noted that five states already use E-Verify: Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia.

Actually, the solution the governor favors is at the conferees' fingertips. If they were to remove the I-9 from the Senate version, the bill would still have the E-Verify and S.C. drivers license as verification options.

Unfortunately, it still isn't clear whether the conferees can take that step without a two-third vote of both bodies to grant what's known as "free conference powers."

There is, however, now reason to believe that the House may be willing to grant the conferees those expanded powers. House Majority Leader Jim Merrill tells us there is sentiment there to eliminate the federal I-9 option.

The Senate was on the right track by requiring all private employers to verify a worker's legal status. But it now should be clear that no one will take that requirement seriously if based on a federal system that doesn't allow employers to check the authenticity of the documents presented.

If the federal I-9 option remains in the system, South Carolinians won't be fooled into thinking that lawmakers did all they reasonably could to pass meaningful immigration legislation.