Thread: SC-Immigration hearing becomes heated argument

Thursday, May. 20, 2010
Immigration hearing becomes heated argument
By NOELLE PHILLIPS - nophillips@thestate.com Buzz up!

Comments (6)


An S.C. senate subcommittee hearing on illegal immigration turned into a heated argument Thursday that resulted in security officers having to disperse an angry crowd.


The scene took place after a subcommittee discussed a bill proposed by Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, and 18 other senators that would allow local and state police to stop and detain people who they suspect are illegal immigrants. Two Hispanic woman challenged Grooms on the bill, saying it would encourage racial profiling from law enforcement.


Much of the meeting focused on a state immigration law that was passed in 2008 that mostly targets businesses and their hiring practices. The intent is to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants.


Senators wanted to know if provisions in that law already allowed police to stop suspected illegal immigrants.


The law does have a measure that required the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division to sign an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would allow local officers to arrest illegal immigrants. Lawmakers grilled Reggie Lloyd, SLED's director, on why his agency has not complied with that section of the state's 2008 Immigration Reform Act.


Lloyd said his agency was only required to sign the agreement once funding had been made available and that had not happened.


S.C. Senate President Pro Tem Glen McConnell hammered Lloyd for not asking for the money.


"I'm real disappointed," McConnell said. "The public is frustrated on why we can't get anything done on this immigration problem."


But Lloyd pointed out that the General Assembly had cut his budget by nearly 40 percent since 2007. If the funding was restored to 2007 levels, Lloyd said he still wouldn't have the resources to hunt down illegal immigrants in South Carolina. He said the choice would be between tracking illegal immigrants or cracking down on violent crime and drug trafficking.


"We have enough on our plate, but if everyone wants us to go chase illegal immigrants, we will," Lloyd said. "If you want us to take a heel and go do that, tell us to go do it."


The committee also listened to a brief update from Jim Knight, who leads the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation's immigration compliance office, about his agency's efforts to regulate businesses' hiring practices. Lawmakers praised that agency's efforts.


The real fireworks took place after the hearing, when Ilia Rivera and Ines Alvarez, both of Greenville, started questioning Grooms. What started as a discussion turned into a shouting match involving at least five people.


"I'm elected to protect the people of South Carolina," Grooms said as he tried to shout down the women. He said he felt compelled to do something to turn back the tide of illegal immigrants in South Carolina.


"Your ‘something’ is not right," Alvarez said. "I'm so sorry — but not in that way."


The argument took an even uglier turn when Roan Garcia-Quintana, an Upstate political activist who focuses on immigration, told Rivera to go back to her home country.


"I'm from Puerto Rico," she shouted.


Garcia-Quintana, who is a Cuban American, then said that Puerto Ricans were a problem.


"You aid and abet illegal immigrants all the time," he shouted.


By then, a security guard, who routinely sits in on subcommittee meetings, asked everyone to calm down. He also called for another officer to help disburse the crowd.


In the end, the proposed bill, which mimics a controversial one passed earlier this year in Arizona, does not have a chance of being passed this session. A new bill would have to be written and debated in 2011.




http://www.thestate.com/2010/05/20/1295 ... eated.html

Ah, yes. If you don't have a valid argument, shout RAAACIISM.

dang i would like to see this on video somewhere, it sounds like it would make for good viewing