Thread: SC: Senate Passes Nation’s Strongest Illegal Immig Reform

Senate Passes Nation’s Strongest Illegal Immigration Reform Bill
Ritchie Revives Immigration Reform

Columbia, SC - Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg) and the South
Carolina Senate unanimously passed the “toughest illegal immigration
reform bill in the nation.â€

Victory, Patriots!!!

Will the Bill die in the House?

Cool! - Did I miss the next step in the legislative process there? Does it have to go back to the state House, or does it go to the Gov. for a signature? (or something else...?)

Originally Posted by PhredE

Cool! - Did I miss the next step in the legislative process there? Does it have to go back to the state House, or does it go to the Gov. for a signature? (or something else...?)

House does need to vote on it...could be some trouble there.

OK, I see, it goes back to the state House for 'consideration' (review, modification, a vote...?)

Re:

enables state government to investigate
and penalize businesses that hire illegal aliens and does not allow
employers to hide behind the federal I-9.

That solves the "well we just asked them to fill out the form and have to take it at face value that it's all legit" problem.

I will call in the morning to speak with Senator Ritchie again to find out when the House will have first chance to vote on it.

That will prob be next week which is good for us because we have so much lined up for Thursday and Friday of this week already.

W

Related:

MyrtleBeachOnline.com
Posted on Thu, May. 01, 2008
Senate finds middle ground on immigration
Compromise bill passes, now heads to the House
By Zane Wilson
zwilson@ thesunnews.com

The Senate passed a new immigration reform compromise Wednesday evening that adds teeth to violations by employers and demands online verification of eligibility for employment.

If the House agrees to it, the measure will be "the toughest anti-illegal-immigration bill in the country," said Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston and leader of the Senate.

"They're going to get what they wished for," and more, McConnell said.

"We've tried to incorporate everybody's concerns." Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, one of three House members assigned to work out the differences between the two versions, said it sounded good.

"I'm really kind of surprised," he said.

Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, said he was happy with the compromise.

He said he has been campaigning for next month's primary elections and voters have told him "this is the No. 1 issue with them."

The move came at the end of a day in which opponents tried to stall action by filibustering an attempt to add previous compromise language to a House bill sponsored by Viers that called for a study committee on immigration.

Sen. John Land, D-Manning, started the filibuster, saying the proposal was unfair to small businesses, especially farmers who need migrant labor.

"This would put the farming industry in South Carolina out of business," Land said.

When a truckload of laborers arrives at dawn, "you can't be running around e-verifying," he said, referring to the federal online immigration status database.

He also objected to provisions that deny public services to illegal immigrants, saying he does not want to live in a state that would deny medical care to a sick child.

Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, said the farmer does not have to do the verification.

The labor supplier would have to do it.

Land said that would still create an unreasonable burden.

Others noted the proposal did not include any penalties or means of enforcement against employers who hired illegal immigrants.

Land moved to table the amendment but members refused, 40-5, to table it.

McConnell then brought out the compromise version.

It adds civil, not criminal, penalties that range from $250 to $10,000, depending on the offense.

State Labor, Licensing and Regulation will handle the enforcement and checking of employer verifications.

The enforcement of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants would take effect as soon as the bill is signed.

In July, a notice would be sent to all employers that on July 1, 2009, the law would apply to businesses with 100 or more employees.

Those who hire fewer would have another year, to 2010, to comply.

McConnell said that gives all employers plenty of notice of what is coming so they can make arrangements to comply with the law.

The Senate proposal also puts back in place a provision that workers who are laid off and replaced by an illegal immigrant can sue and be repaid all damages, not just lost wages.

The changes passed on a voice vote with no audible opposition.

Gov. Mark Sanford immediately issued a statement criticizing the compromise and the Senate for not taking a recorded vote on the issue.

The measure will have a routine third reading today before being sent to the House. Viers said he is not sure if that will be in time for the House to take it up today. If not, it will be considered on Tuesday.

Lawmakers on Wednesday also expressed their indignation over the Rev. Philip Miles being held in prison in Russia and demanded his release.

Miles, pastor of Christ Community Church in Conway, was sentenced to three years in prison for taking rifle bullets as a gift to a friend he was visiting.

A resolution passed first by the House, then the Senate, says it is obvious that Miles was not attempting to commit a crime, and that legislators wish to express "great concern" for the welfare of Miles.

The resolution will be sent to Russian government officials

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/l ... 35328.html

Posted on Thu, May. 01, 2008
S.C. General Assembly OKs crackdown on illegal immigration
By RODDIE A. BURRIS
rburris@thestate.com
Daylong negotiations Wednesday gave rise to an all-new Senate proposal to deal with illegal immigration, one Senate president Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said will send a message that South Carolina is not the place to be caught with fraudulent identification.

The new measure, approved on an anticlimactic voice vote after two days of debate, would require private employers to verify their employees’ identification beginning in July 2009, using either the federal electronic verification system, E-verify, or a yet-to-be-designed state version of the federal I-9 form.

A valid S.C. driver’s license, or the security equivalent license issued by other states, also can be used under the proposal, along with a valid S.C. identification card.

The state Labor, Licensing, and Regulation department would design the new S.C.-verify document.

The new system would go into effect for employers with 100 or more employees on July 1, 2009, and for smaller employers, those with less than 100 employees, on July 1, 2010.

The Department of Revenue, however, would begin notifying all private employers of the new regulations as soon as the bill becomes law. The notification would carry a warning advising employers against knowingly employing illegal immigrants, McConnell said.

The new measure carries hefty civil fines — ranging up to $1,000 per illegal worker — for employers who fail to properly document workers. For employers who willfully and repeatedly violate the proposed law, the fines could range up to $10,000 for each illegal worker.

“We think we have created a very workable system for anybody operating in good faith,â€

Great news , will say my prayers for it passing the house!!