Thread: It's Hard to Determine Immigrants' Status

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/ne ... 953264.htm

It's hard to determine immigrants' status
By NOELLE PHILLIPS
nophillips@thestate.com
When Saluda County Sheriff’s Department deputies set up highway checkpoints, they almost always catch illegal immigrants driving without a license.
The deputies arrest the driver.

However, the Sheriff’s Department does not call federal immigration authorities, Sheriff Jason Booth said.

“When you have an illegal immigrant on the side of the road for a minor traffic violation, it’s hard to get someone here to do something about it,” Booth said.

Saluda County has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents of any county in South Carolina, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, it is impossible to determine how many of those immigrants actually were counted in the census and how many are legally living and working in the United States.

Illegal immigrants tend not to participate in the Census, and those who don’t have legal rights to work in the United States don’t publicize their presence.

At least a dozen Saluda County Hispanics interviewed during the past two months admitted they did not have legal permission to be in the United States. Even more immigrants declined interviews.

Schools and employers say there are limits on what they can do to determine if their students and workers, respectively, are here legally.

Schools are not allowed to ask students for documents proving they are legally in the country, said Catherine Neff, a S.C. Department of Education administrator.

Companies are required to ask job applicants for two documents to prove their identity and citizenship or legal residency in this country. But employers are limited in their ability to question the authenticity of documents presented, said David Whitlock, an employment lawyer with Fisher and Phillips law firm in Atlanta.

As long as a document appears legal, a company cannot question it under federal law, Whitlock said. “The employers are doing what they are supposed to do yet they are hiring illegal aliens.”

Saluda, a rural county with few major employers, has not appeared on the radar of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. There have been no raids or major arrests.

But, as the national debate about immigration made headlines this spring, rumors of immigration raids circulated throughout Saluda. Once, word spread authorities had rounded up two busloads of illegal immigrants in nearby Newberry. That story — and other similar tales — proved false.

Marc Raimondi, an immigration enforcement spokesman in Washington, D.C., would not break down that agency’s activity’s in South Carolina.

He said enforcement decisions are based on intelligence; priority also is given to matters of national security.

“Everybody’s a concern, but it’s a matter of putting the appropriate priorities in place to safeguard America,” Raimondi said.

Originally Posted by steelerbabe

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/14953264.htm

It's hard to determine immigrants' status

“Everybody’s a concern, but it’s a matter of putting the appropriate priorities in place to safeguard America,” Raimondi said.

I would like to know exactly what their priorities are? This guy is nothing more than a 'slacker' of the highest degree.