Smart immigration slowdown

February 26, 2008 by senatormcconnell

The refusal by the state House of Representatives this week to accept Senate amendments to a bill aimed at illegal immigration was the right move. Now let’s hope the conference committee appointed to resolve the differences can toughen the legislation.

The committee’s prime concerns should be the elimination of an employee verification option known as the federal I-9 form. A persuasive argument has been made by two Lowcountry senators — Chip Campsen and Glenn McConnell — that the option makes the verification process a farce.

That’s been proven by the failed federal system that embodies the I-9 form verification process. The flaw is obvious. Social Security cards and out-of-state driver’s licenses, which are too easily falsified, can be used to obtain I-9 clearance. Under the federal law, employers are prohibited from examining the underlying documentation.

It should be noted that it was the Senate that included all employers in the verification process. The House bill only placed that requirement on employers who contract with public agencies. But the upper chamber spoiled its good effort by retaining the federal I-9 form verification system as one of several options. Sens. McConnell and Campsen contend the majority of their colleagues caved in to lobbyists for business interests. The two senators’ verification package included either the on-line E-Verify system that is being used successfully in Arizona, a S.C. driver’s license or a South Carolina version of the I-9, which, unlike the federal I-9, would allow employers to check the validity of the documentation. The latter was removed from the Senate bill and the federal I-9 retained.

Sen. Campsen, a member of the conference committee, hopes to find a procedural way to eliminate the federal I-9 option in conference without having to get a difficult three-fourths vote from both bodies to have broader negotiating powers. Even if the federal form is eliminated by the conferees, both the House and the Senate would have to approve the changes. At this point, the majority of the Senate — and the lobbyists — are known hurdles.

But state lawmakers should keep in mind that if the I-9 option remains, the verification process will be relatively meaningless, making the much-touted priority effort by the state to control illegal immigration less significant than it could have been.

We’ll soon know whether legislators are really serious about doing all they legally can at the state level to deal with this national problem. The leadership said at the outset that’s what the majority of South Carolinians expect. At least now there is time to get this legislation right.

The Post and Courier
February 23, 2008

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