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Rally Calls For Immigration Policy Change
Opposing Sides Face Off In State Capitol

POSTED: 6:17 pm EDT March 10, 2008
UPDATED: 6:32 pm EDT March 10, 2008


COLUMBIA, S.C. -- About 150 people gathered in Columbia on the Statehouse steps asking state lawmakers to solve the problems of illegal immigration.

Many of those attending the rally belong to a group called Americans Have Had Enough.

Roan Garcia-Quintana said, "The illegal aliens are a consequence of a bigger problem which is the greed of these corporations. These chicken processing plants and meat-packing plants are bringing them here in the thousands."


The issue is a sore subject for many of those who attended the rally, including contractor Terry Funderburk, who was arrested after a previous protest.

"The reason I was arrested was because I called the guy I protested a cheap bastard," he said.

Funderburk said that guy hired another company over his.

"One month later, I saw a company employing illegal aliens on the job," he said.

Funderburk said, "I was vindicated in the end. They found me not guilty."

The crowd said that state lawmakers aren't doing enough to make employers accountable for who they hire.

"It's about hiring Americans to do the job. When they say 'it's a job Americans won't do,' they don't finish the sentence. They won't do for $4 an hour and for deplorable conditions," Garcia-Quintana said.

The group called on state lawmakers to force all employers to use a federal database system called e-Verify -- to make sure the people they hire are legal residents and are using valid identification.

Right now, the bill also allows employers to use what many consider a less fool-proof service.

"If we don't go after private employers, this whole bill is worthless because they are the perpetrators of what is going on today," Garcia-Quintana said.

Across the street from the rally a small group stood in opposition.

Antonio Vasquez with the America Friends Service Committee said, "We stand here today because we believe enacting any type of enforcement measures at the state level does nothing to address the root causes of migration. It makes matters worse."

The group says many undocumented workers come here for basic economic survival, fleeing corrupt countries in desperation.

"We believe that any type of solution with this issue of immigration needs to come from the federal level," Vasquez said.

He said, "We stand here today because we want to seek peace and an end to anti-immigrant hysteria in our community."

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