Immigration Reform Update

May 4, 2008 by senatormcconnell

I wanted to tell you about the actions that the Senate took on immigration reform, and I wanted to give you an accurate record of what occurred. The Senate did amend H.3032, but it did not amend it with a weak bill instead we strengthened it. This bill did not substitute the e-verify with the South Carolina e-verify but kept it. Additionally, what it did was create a South Carolina e-verify which the State of South Carolina could enforce by looking at the documents, by finding those who did not keep the documents, and by bringing fines and criminal charges against those who intentionally or knowingly hired illegals. By creating a South Carolina run verification system, the State, for the first time, was able to impose fines against the violators. Had we gone with the strict e-verification, there were two problems: First, there is a gaping hole in the e-verification which allows illegals to use valid social security numbers which do not belong to them to register a positive with the e-verification. The State is not allowed, because of federal law, to enforce the e-verification or to look into it to see if the employer is engaged in using valid but mismatching social security numbers in order to pass. If the State is powerless to investigate this, then the e-verification can become a safe harbor for those who decide to willfully engage in fraud.

Another feature of the bill would allow anyone who participates in creating a false document for an illegal immigrant to be criminally prosecuted under the law. Additionally, the South Carolina verification system empowers the public to submit a written complaint and cause the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation to investigate the complaint on the hiring of an illegal immigrant. The State agency is allowed to go in and pull the documents and fine the employer for negligent acts of failure to maintain the documents or to proceed to a criminal prosecution for intentional violations plus civil penalties. Additionally, the LLR must report to the federal authorities any result of an investigation where substantial evidence is that an illegal immigrant has been hired. The enforcement power of LLR is not limited to those that it licenses but rather to all employers in South Carolina. To ensure that the agency will do the audits, we have created an affirmative duty to come up with an audit plan and to do random audits. To reward the agency and to ensure the audits occur, we have allowed the agency to keep all of the fine money that it collects from violators.

In addition to the penalties I have indicated above, our bill goes a step further for those who willfully violate the law or negligently fail to comply with it. They lose the tax deduction from the State on all the wages that were paid for the illegals. Additionally, if the employer has provided transportation or housing or any aid to a known illegal, they can be prosecuted for that.

The Governor’s Office, in two press releases, urged us to pass legislation with the critical components of requiring private employers to check a valid South Carolina Driver’s License or use the on-line e-verify system to validate legal status or employ a new South Carolina version of the I-9. We went further than that and included enforceability divisions which the Governor now disagrees with. Additionally, we empowered the public to make complaints and to require those complaints to be followed up on. If this session ends with nothing, South Carolina will continue to be flooded with illegal immigrants who take jobs in this State. It is our collective judgment that doing nothing was the worst alternative. To those of you who have written that the Senate was the problem and not the House, I need to remind you that the South Carolina House passed two bills that never applied to the private employers other than those who did business with the State of South Carolina. It was the Senate and only the Senate that tried to apply it to all employers in this State. We have had to fight some big business interests here in the capital. Perhaps if there is no bill at all, they will be the ones who will be the happiest.

On the question of the allegation that there was no vote taken, that is absolutely false. When the matter came up on the floor, it took unanimous consent, and that was with the consent of every Senator there in order to take up the amendment. The Senate then voted for the amendment by unanimous consent and subsequently for the package. To the best of my recollection, the final vote was around 44 to 2; but any Senator could have objected to what was being done because a filibuster was underway. Whether we could have broken the filibuster or not and ever gotten to a vote is questionable. Additionally, any Senator had the right to take the floor and talk on the matter.

After we had voted for exactly what the Governor had argued for in two press releases, he issued a press release stating that we had weakened the bill. Some of us here, in the capital, have suggested that perhaps he really does not understand the issue, or others have suggested that maybe he really does not want a firm decision. Gridlock or doing nothing is what the special interests in the lobby would be happy with. We are disappointed that he was willing to stand up on national ID issue, but he is unwilling to stand up with us to the federal government on the question of being able to impose sanctions against businesses and fine them.

Lastly, two other components of this immigration fight continue to languish in the South Carolina House of Representatives. The Senate, after strong debate, passed the English- Only Bill so that the taxpayers of this State would not subsidize multi-lingual documents in a State where English is our official language. Sadly, this bill has not been voted on by the South Carolina House, and we have gotten little to no help from the Governor in passing this. The DMV, which is under his control, printed a driving manual in Spanish and additionally is conducting tests in three other languages besides English. On the other component, if the United States Congress will not act, the states must be able to get some relief if we are to stem this tide of illegal immigration. That is why we passed a call for a Constitutional Convention this year. That bill also languishes in the House of Representatives.

I close by saying that some of you believe that e-verify is the strongest way to go. Others believe that e-verify has a gaping hole in it because all you have to do is present a social security number belonging to someone but not to the person that is presenting it. Once it verifies it as a valid number, it doesn’t match it with a person. There is no further enforcement allowed by the State of South Carolina and we know about the federal government’s record of enforcement. Others believe that the South Carolina Verify brings such intensive scrutiny in audits and investigations that most businesses will try to go to the e-verify rather than subject themselves to audits and enforcement by the State.

We tried to get the strongest bill that we could and to get it moving after the House failed to put anything in the previous bill and the Conference Committee got tied up on procedural issues. We believe the people will be served by this legislation becoming law, but we think the worst thing that could happen is for this State to do nothing. Many of us believe that the law we have passed, equals, and exceeds the Arizona law. We have more comprehensive language in there denying benefits to illegal immigrants and prosecuting those who provide credentials to allow them to access the taxpayer-paid benefits. Please do not be misled by the propaganda pumps that attempt to confuse you.

I have included with my communication the two press releases from the Governor’s Office that indicate how he had longstanding support for what we did until we did it stronger than what he advocated and then the next morning, he did not want it. I thought you would be interested in that. Let us hope with his flip-flop that his real goal is not gridlock. Only the special interests in the State House lobby will be happy with that.

Thank you for your interest and attention, and with warmest personal regards, I am

Sincerely,

Glenn F. McConnell

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