Sun News: State immigration policy may get priority

Posted on January 22, 2008 
Filed Under News

Bill would prevent county, town laws on immigration

Cities and counties could not have immigration laws more extensive than the state’s under a version of a bill approved Thursday morning by a House subcommittee.

“This makes it clear the state is pre-empting the field,” said Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that will take up the bill on Tuesday.

Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, who led the subcommittee, said the provision also forbids so-called sanctuary cities, where local governments can order their police not to bother checking the immigration status of anyone.

The action means the business groups got one of the things they wanted in immigration legislation, which is that local governments not be allowed to have a patchwork of different laws.

At a hearing on the issue Wednesday, former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride was among several who asked that local governments be allowed to have their own immigration laws.

Robert Croom, lobbyist for the S.C. Association of Counties, said he is not sure what their response will be to the measure.

He said he needed to study the wording before recommending a position by the association.

The subcommittee agreed to the House version of the bill, introduced last week, and substituted that for a Senate version of immigration reform that was passed last year and sent to the House.

Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, asked Wednesday that the Senate bill be moved forward, saying the two measures are similar.

House leaders disputed Ritchie’s claim.

Greg Foster, spokesman for Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the Senate bill allows illegal immigrants to attend state colleges and receive scholarships. Nor does the Senate bill outlaw “sanctuary cities,” Foster said.

“The House bill addresses all those things and much more,” he said.

The subcommittee also agreed to a bill from Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, banning local and state government documents or tests in foreign languages except where required by federal law.

Exemptions would include uses such as academic language classes, materials “to promote trade, tourism or commerce outside the state,” public safety messages and language needed to protect crime victims.

Another Viers measure the panel approved requires local police to check the immigration status of people who are in jail, and if they are here illegally, they automatically are categorized as a flight risk when bail is set.

The committee also passed a resolution by Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, aimed at forcing the federal government to be more active against illegal immigration by seeking reimbursement to states for money spent on illegal immigrants.

“The state is bearing the burden of the federal government’s dereliction of duty,” Stavrinakis said.

The Judiciary Committee will consider the bills at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 516 of the Blatt House Office Building.

Also on Thursday, Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, introduced a bill forbidding social services to illegal immigrants under 14.

Elliott filed the measure three years ago and again last year as a resolution asking the governor to order agencies in his Cabinet not to provide services to illegal immigrants.

“To date, nothing has changed, and illegal aliens continue to access food and services paid for by the taxpayers,” Elliott said. “We have rolled out the red carpet to illegal aliens” by providing social services, he also said.

The bill was referred to a committee for study.

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At a glance
The Judiciary Committee will consider immigration bills at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 516 of the Blatt House Office Building.

Sun News | 1/18/08