Note the last sentence of this opinion. The only "federal solution" needed is enforcement, not another amnesty.
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islandpacket.com
New immigration law only as good as enforcement
Published Friday, June 6, 2008

South Carolina now has its own brand of immigration reform, and if you think getting a bill signed into law was complicated and difficult, watch what happens when state and local officials start trying to enforce it.

South Carolina's law totals more than 12,000 words and covers everything from economic development for the state's minority communities to voting rights to law enforcement training to running jails to health care to higher education to financial identity fraud to immigration assistance services to firearms to setting bond for prisoners.

Multiple state agencies are involved, including the State Law Enforcement Division, the state Minority Affairs Commission, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Verifying an employee's immigration status is just one section of this lengthy bill.

It goes without saying that enforcement is the key. That's been the problem with federal immigration law. But state agencies will have a littletime to get ready. Private employers of 100 or more people have until July 1, 2009, to meet the new law's requirements. Employers of fewer than 100 people have until July 1, 2010. Government contractors face earlier deadlines.

The state will issue "employment licenses" to all employers. To keep the licenses in good standing, employers will have to verify their employees' legal status by checking Social Security numbers with the federal E-Verify program (or its successor; that program is set to lapse in November unless Congress renews it). Employees who have a valid South Carolina driver's license or a valid license from states whose requirements are as strict as South Carolina's can be hired.

An employer is essentially given a pass on a first offense. He has 72 hours to comply with the law with no penalty. A subsequent offense is treated as a first offense after that. But if he makes no mistakes for five years after that first one, he's back to first-offense status.

An employment license is suspended for at least 10 days on a first offense, for at least 30 days on a second offense and for at least 90 days on a third offense.

To reinstate the license, the employer must show he has fired the unauthorizedemployee and pay a fine of not more than $1,000. If a license is revoked, it can't be reinstated for five years and the employer is on probation for three years after that.

The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation is in charge of checking whether employers have verified their employees' legal status. The law calls for the department to conduct random audits, similar to Beaufort County's Lawful Employment Ordinance. And the department will accept written and signed complaints and investigate credible allegations.

As for local ordinances, the law states that local governments may not pass any law or policy that prohibits a law enforcement officer, local official or local government employee from enforcing state immigration law. Nor can local governments prevent employees from reporting on someone's immigration status to federal or state officials. No sanctuary communities, in other words.

It also prohibits them from passing any laws that exceed or conflict with federal or state law. Beaufort County is checking to see whether its ordinance is in conflict, but given its reliance on the federal I-9 form for verification, it's probably fine.

Time will tell whether South Carolina's immigration reform efforts will have the desired effect of discouraging illegal immigrants from coming to South Carolina or staying here and whether employers will toe the line on employment practices. And time will tell whether South Carolina's law can withstand any legal challenges.

On the day Gov. Mark Sanford signed the bill into law, a federal judge in Oklahoma blocked enforcement of the employer-related provisions of that state's law. The judge ruled that those sections requiring employers to use the federal verification program likely were unconstitutional because they interfere with federal rules regarding the hiring of unauthorized workers.

The ruling shows again that we ultimately need a federal solution.

http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/story/517350.html

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Related link:

S.C. Illegal Immigration Reform Act:

http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/edi ... 17374.html