Lawmakers say they will pass an immigration law
The issue isn't dead, state House and Senate negotiators say

By Yvonne Wenger
The Post and Courier
Friday, April 18, 2008
COLUMBIA — Legislators balked Thursday at the idea that immigration reform efforts in South Carolina are dead, arguing that resolve to overcome the deadlock is as strong as ever.

Negotiators for the House and Senate must find a way to revive a compromise plan that was dealt a blow this week. Both sides say they will pass a new law within the coming weeks that gets tough on illegal immigration.

Legislators' phones have been lighting up over the issue, and public scrutiny is high.

"The No. 1 issue that is on everybody's mind is illegal immigration," said Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-James Island. "I believe this is something people truly want. They are truly expecting us in the General Assembly to handle this situation.

"I think if we don't do it, we're failing the people."

The legislation itself is far-reaching, said lead Senate negotiator Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg. Provisions of the House and Senate compromise that are still intact address a range of matters, including seeking authorization from the federal government to enforce immigration laws, verification of legal status to receive state benefits, and the ability to bring felony charges for harboring or transporting an illegal immigrant.

The deadlock concerns how to treat private employers. Both versions of the legislation set strict rules for government contracts, but the Senate's bill would make it a felony for an employer to knowingly hire an illegal immigrant.

The House placed new demands on the compromise Wednesday when House

negotiators called on the senators to drop the federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form as an acceptable means of checking a worker's legal status. Critics of the I-9 form say it perpetuates the broken system.

The Senate already has waged an unsuccessful fight on the floor over excluding the I-9 forms in favor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify program, which also has its fair share of critics because of its error rate.

Ritchie said the House negotiators are backtracking after agreeing a couple of weeks ago to the compromise.

"I look forward to meeting with them next week and hopefully solving the remaining issue," said Ritchie, who led a Senate committee that first began studying the issue in 2006.

House Majority Leader Jim Merrill of Daniel Island said the Republican Caucus told its House negotiators that it would not accept the tentative compromise reached earlier this month because it did not go far enough.

Merrill noted that the push for immigration reform is bipartisan.

"It is one of our top agenda items, but at the same time we're not willing to pass something that is ineffectual," he said. "That, quite frankly, is what the federal government does."

www.charleston.net