S.C. restrictions leave illegal immigrants’ futures uncertain
By Titus Ledbetter III (Contact)
Saturday, August 1, 2009

The chances for illegal immigrants to prosper in South Carolina may be dwindling as state lawmakers clamp down on college admissions and the hiring requirements for employers.

Immigrants have come to South Carolina in large numbers in a search for jobs. They found the state attractive not only for the chance to work, but also because they felt the odds were better than in border states for escaping detection by immigration authorities.

The state had about 70,000 illegal immigrants in 2008, up from 55,000 in 2005, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that South Carolina showed the highest increase in foreign-born population of any state in the nation from 2000 to 2005, according to the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies for the University of South Carolina.

A majority of the immigrants in South Carolina are from Mexico, but a significant number come from other Central American countries.

The recent immigration of Hispanics to South Carolina has led to new legislation banning illegal immigrants from public colleges and has changed the job market in the state. The migration to South Carolina has also sparked new requirements for verifying the legal status of workers.

A quest for higher education

In the summer of 2008, South Carolina became the first state to ban illegal immigrants from enrolling in public colleges and universities. The law was a blow to young people such as one a 16-year-old in a family of illegal immigrants in Upstate South Carolina.

The teen came to South Carolina from Costa Rica with her family when she was 2 years old. She is a rising 11th-grader in high school and has a 3.7 grade point average.

She was devastated when she heard about the new law banning her from public colleges.

“I can’t get into a college here,â€