South Carolina : Group wants state action on immigration
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MYRTLE BEACH — The federal government’s failure to pass an immigration bill makes it all but certain the S.C. General Assembly will pass a state reform bill when it returns to Columbia in January, business leaders believe. Immigration reform has become the No. 1 political issue in South Carolina, surpassing tax reform, which topped the agenda last year, Otis Rawl, chief operating officer of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, told attendees Thursday at the 28th Annual Summit. “Something will pass at the state level, the pressure is too great,” said Buddy Jennings, whose firm Impact Consultants works with both the immigrant-worker reliant agricultural and tourism industries. But business leaders at the chamber’s annual meeting being held through today want to make sure that whatever passes will serve as regulation for the whole state. “We need a state approach to avoid a hodgepodge of (local) regulations,” S.C. Chamber President Hunter Howard said. The S.C. business organization decided to back a statewide approach in a bill authored by Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, specifically because the federal government failed to act last year and is not likely to act in the next year or two, Howard said. The chamber worked behind the scenes to have a backstop in state law, Howard said, because what “we are seeing is a proliferation of cities and counties getting into the game enacting ordinances that will make it very burdensome for businesses.” Ritchie’s bill would have to be amended to prevent local measures, he said. Beaufort County already has enacted a local immigration ordinance and other counties are looking at the issue. Not everyone is in agreement. Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, said his organization still believes immigration is a federal issue. The tourism industry is concerned about regulations from state to state that could make it difficult for large chain hotel and restaurant operators to do business in multiple states, Dean said. Ritchie’s Illegal Immigration Reform Act passed the State Senate last session and is now in the House Judiciary Committee. “In South Carolina over the past five years we have had a 1,000-fold increase in the number of illegal immigrants in our state,” Ritchie told business leaders Thursday. “The estimates run anywhere from 75,000 to 200,000 (illegal immigrants) in South Carolina,” he continued. “To the state that means were are spending about $186 million annually in health care, education and law enforcement on this issue. That is a tremendous burden on a state, especially a state of our size.” Ritchie’s bill deals with four areas: • Require local and state agencies to verify that anyone who applies for state benefits like Medicaid is legally present in South Carolina. • Require government contractors, anyone who is receiving public dollars, to verify that they have a valid workforce. • Enable local law enforcement, working through the State Law Enforcement Division, to more effectively enforce immigration laws. • Ensure that private employers verify that their employees are here legally or risk the loss of a deduction for that person as a business expense. The legislation would allow a person who is in the state legally to sue if they lose their job in favor of an illegal immigrant, Ritchie said. The burden on business to verify employment will not be onerous, Ritchie said. A business can rely on documents if they appear to be legitimate, he said, even if later on the worker is proven to be here illegally. |
well guess who lives in SC.
should i start freaking out now? or wait until next year.
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Don't freak out. I'm in Oklahoma, the so called land of "toughest US measure against illegal immigration" which on paper is even worse than what's proposed in South Carolina, as it makes harboring or transporting an illegal immigrant a crime. Guess what? Two weeks in, the law is obviously a joke. Law enforcement across the state hates the bill and many say they have little plans on enforcing, religious groups are boycotting the law, and the most news coverage lately is the fact that due to the law if a person does not renew their drivers license at a tag agent before it expires, they have to go to a testing facility and prove they are a legal. It was all fun and games when they thought it would get rid of wetbacks, who cares if immigrating "the right way" is generally impossible or could take over a decade. But now that regular people have to spend a few hours in line, well that's just no acceptable. 
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REST OF DISCLAIMERThe views and opinions expressed above are strictly those of the author and are not necessarily the views of other DAP constituents.
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Originally Posted by OptimistinDenial
Ah, someone told a friend of mine that illegal aliens needed to be caught and deported because they broke the law. My friend responded, yeah businesses also broke the law. If ilegal aliens are going to be fined citizens that profit from their presence ought to also be fined heavely. I say, 100,000 for each undocumented worker you have. The response is that employers are doing illegal aliens a favor by employing them. Illegal immigration is one of the greatest issues this country faces but hey, how many issues this country faces and both politicians and americans decided that it is easier to look at the other way. How about fiscal responsability? or global warming? Right now, they are comfortable with things as they are. They have all the cheap labor they need and they can call themselves Christians for abusing human beings. They can also judge us mercilessly and apply their concept of the law to us because we broke the law. As if breaking the law took away our humanity. They do not care if they see the news and see hundreds of people being deported and hearing how those people were abused. They do not care. They do not care if you have spend most of your life in this country and that your fragile shoulders and going to support this economy. Why? Because they can have their cake and eat it too. Only, if they deport more than a million people and actually stop all illegal immigrants entering this country are they going to realized how much they need us and how American we are. That is not going to happen because business know what they want and need. As macho as Alicrap likes to think it is, they are nothing but a small group of extremist. Only fit to attack people who cannot defend themselves and undocumented college kids. I want to know what they have done to hurt the businesses that hire illegal aliens. I want to know why Arnold allows undocumented aliens to rent. What have you done to wealthy landlords? Yea, they might pass their ordinance and they might scare us but fear not, businesses are going to scream in rage if they do not get their supply of workers and stores are going to scream in rage in their customers do not come back for milk. After all, no matter how illegal I am my money is quite legal and really green.
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Originally Posted by Rico
Don't freak out. I'm in Oklahoma, the so called land of "toughest US measure against illegal immigration" which on paper is even worse than what's proposed in South Carolina, as it makes harboring or transporting an illegal immigrant a crime. Guess what? Two weeks in, the law is obviously a joke. Law enforcement across the state hates the bill and many say they have little plans on enforcing, religious groups are boycotting the law, and the most news coverage lately is the fact that due to the law if a person does not renew their drivers license at a tag agent before it expires, they have to go to a testing facility and prove they are a legal. It was all fun and games when they thought it would get rid of wetbacks, who cares if immigrating "the right way" is generally impossible or could take over a decade. But now that regular people have to spend a few hours in line, well that's just no acceptable.
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