Thread: Vote delayed on S.C. immigration E-verify bill

Vote delayed on S.C. immigration E-verify bill
Feb.2,2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina lawmakers say they want to make sure illegal immigrants don't collect jobless checks, but they delayed voting Tuesday on a bill requiring the state's unemployment agency to run applicants' names through E-verify after an agency official said the federal government doesn't want it using that online program.

A House labor subcommittee adjourned debate and directed the Department of Employment and Workforce official to come back next week with written proof of the federal government's response to the proposal, and data on how many fraudulent claims from illegal workers are caught now.

After the meeting, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security explained the state agency should use a different federal system to check immigration status.

The bill would require the agency to screen laid-off workers' applications through the federal online E-verify system. But the state agency contends its current system effectively catches fraud.

For at least seven years, the agency has run applicants' information through the Social Security Administration to verify their numbers and dates of birth. Agency benefits director Leland Teal said the state has saved millions that way, but he couldn't specify how much.

"We feel that's a thorough and effective way of doing what you're asking us to do," Teal said.

Panel members asked whether E-verify could catch even more. He acknowledged not knowing much about E-verify, or the federal government's reasoning.

The correspondence likely referred to the agency's need to use SAVE -- the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements -- instead. E-verify is for private and public employers to verify a new employee's eligibility to work in the United States, while SAVE program is designed for benefit-granting government agencies, said homeland security spokesman Bill Wright.

State law already bars illegal workers from drawing unemployment checks, and the state's mandates on businesses to check workers' legal status already are among the nation's toughest.

Freshmen GOP Rep. Tom Corbin said he wants to close a potential loophole in the 2008 law -- though he has no indication violations are happening -- especially as the state seeks to repair its unemployment insurance fund.

South Carolina has borrowed nearly $900 million from the federal government to keep paying jobless benefits as the state's unemployment rate soared during the past two years. In January 2010, it hit a record high of 12.5 percent, and was 10.7 percent last month.

Changes to the taxes employers pay, which took effect Jan. 1, should make the jobless benefits trust fund solvent again by 2015, said agency spokeswoman Adrienne Fairwell.

"We're very much in debt. It's an inexpensive, back-end way to stave off future increases," said Corbin, R-Travelers Rest.

Under the phased-in 2008 law, as of last July, businesses of all sizes had to check their workers' status either with E-verify or by hiring only workers with a valid driver's license from South Carolina or 26 other approved states. Businesses face the threat of a forced shutdown if government inspectors find they employ illegal workers.

But workers could be giving a phony license, Corbin said. "There are so many loopholes, even if you do get audited," he said.

Over the past six months, the state's labor agency randomly audited about 2,300 businesses, and audited about 50 in response to complaints. Of those, 95 employers were cited for not correctly verifying more than 1,000 employees. The penalties tallied $900,000, but the law waives fines on most first offenses, so the state collected just $3,200, said Jim Knight, who oversees immigration compliance for the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Earlier this month, after a follow-up inspection at a Mexican restaurant in Columbia turned up continued problems, and a landscaper in Murrells Inlet admitted he knew a worker was not legal, the two businesses agreed to probation in lieu of a 10-day shutdown, Knight said.

The E-verify proposal comes as state senators consider another expansion to the state's anti-illegal immigration law. Like Arizona's law last year that inspired a flurry of lawsuits, it would allow police to check immigration status if an officer thinks a person is in the country illegally. The query could come after a suspect is stopped for something else.

That proposal, which Republicans in both chambers call a priority, is before a Senate committee. South Carolina is among 11 states considering a law similar to Arizona's, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/201 ... rify-bill/

first Of all
some thing not rigth with this when you work 6 month to 1 year to can get check . you have to ID who you work for Be for & how long
it goe'e on & on . By the way what has AZ Has to do with you
it your state get the Illegal Immigrants out so all the American can work
NoAmnesty

"After the meeting, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security explained the state agency should use a different federal system to check immigration status."

Surprise eh? The Fed. sicking their nose in illegal aliens pleasure zone.
And sceerewing the state and its residents.

Cm on a different system? Which one?
E-verify would work just fine.
Or they would use your "alliterative" federal system instead!

E-verify mandate SC Now!

alliteration (əˌlɪtəˈreɪʃən)

— n
the use of the same consonant ( consonantal alliteration ) or of a vowel, not necessarily the same vowel ( vocalic alliteration ), at the beginning of each word or each stressed syllable in a line of verse, as in around the rock the ragged rascal ran
[C17: from Medieval Latin alliterÄ