Posted on Sat, Dec. 13, 2008
Exclusive | Judges: Clamp down on weddings for illegal immigrants

Some want to revisit opinion interpreted as giving illegal immigrants constitutional right to marry

By RICK BRUNDRETT

South Carolina law makes it too easy for illegal immigrants to marry, say some probate judges who want to see that stopped.

Lexington County Probate Judge Daniel Eckstrom is asking the S.C. attorney general to take another look at a 2004 opinion that some probate judges are using to issue marriage licenses to illegal immigrants.

“That opinion has given the impression to many that, for all practical purposes, illegal aliens essentially have an unqualified constitutional right to be issued a marriage license in South Carolina,â€