Thread: SC: New bill targets illegal labor

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/my ... 659216.htm

HORRY COUNTY
New bill targets illegal labor
Similar ideas focus of national debate
By Travis Tritten
The Sun News

Horry County will consider a law to crack down on illegal immigrant labor by penalizing employers, a county committee decided Thursday.

The proposal, sponsored by Myrtle Beach Councilman Marion Foxworth, would suspend any employer's county business license for about 60 to 90 days if the employer uses illegal immigrant workers.

Similar laws have recently been passed by two other S.C. counties and local governments across the United States as an answer to an influx of millions of illegal immigrants over the past decade.

Foxworth pitched the idea months ago, but it just got traction Thursday when the council's Infrastructure and Regulation Committee voted to move it to the county attorney, who will write the language of a proposed law.

The draft law should be ready next month and, if passed by the committee, will move on to County Council for three votes.

Laws aimed at employers of illegal immigrants have drawn heavy legal fire, especially in Hazelton, Pa., where the American Civil Liberties Union is suing over the move.

Foxworth said cities and counties have no choice but to take up the issue. If the county follows the template of laws passed in Beaufort and Dorchester counties, it should be legally protected from a loss in court, he said.

Rampant illegal immigration "should be in the hands of the federal government, but the federal government has pretty much punted on it," Foxworth said. "It is the local governments that have to deal with the financial implications of it."

Illegal immigrants are drawn to southern states and areas such as Myrtle Beach by the fast-paced development and the labor it creates, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Foxworth said the influx is unfair for local employers and workers who follow the law. They must compete with businesses who save money with low-price illegal labor and employees who are willing to work for far less money than legal residents, he said.

Illegal workers also become "second class" citizens who might not receive the same protections, such as workers compensation, if they're hurt on the job, Foxworth said.

"We are setting up a situation where we are basically going back to the days of the robber barons where workers are fodder for the grist mill," Foxworth said.

The residents of the county are also saddled with the cost of health care and education of illegal immigrants, he said.

The proposed law would allow residents to file a complaint against employers. The employer could then be audited by the county to determine if illegal labor is being used. If illegal labor is discovered, the business would be penalized by temporarily losing a business license.

Concerns are already stacking up - the law could divide residents, trigger concerns of racial profiling and be difficult to enforce, according to some county officials.

In Beaufort County, which passed a similar law but won't enforce it until 2008, the debate "came down to everything but fistfights in the hallway," Horry County Planning Director Janet Carter said. Dorchester County's law will become effective in July, according to that county's records.

"People think it is going to encourage racial profiling and it leads to an us-and-them mentality that rips your community apart," Carter said.

Hazelton, Pa., was one of the first local governments to pass such a law and is now being sued by the ACLU, which is challenging rules that punish landlords and employers of illegal immigrants, she said.

A federal judge blocked that city from enforcing the ordinance in October while the ACLU challenges the law in court, according to the civil liberties group.

Beaufort County faces many legal threats and is waiting to enforce the new law until the Hazelton case is resolved, which could require a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, Carter said.

"I think we just need to proceed cautiously and slowly," she said.

County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said enforcement might present practical problems. "How would you check - would you go on site and ask for birth certificates?" Gilland said.
What happened

A law targeting employers who hire illegal immigrants has been sent to the county attorney, who will craft wording for a proposed ordinance.

What's next

The attorney will send the proposed wording back to the Infrastructure and Regulation Committee. If that committee approves, it will go on to County Council for consideration

This is good news, this is only about 45 min from me in SC.