Luis Bell, president of the Hilton Head Island-based Latin American Council of South Carolina, said the inability of undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses -- and the resulting lack of transportation -- is one of the biggest problems facing the island's Latino community.
He asked for help from lawmakers, who were gathered for a local meeting of the county's Legislative Delegation.
"They have no way to go to their jobs, especially with difficulties with public transportation," Bell said.
The region's bus system, run by the Lowcountry Regional Transportation Authority, does not offer enough substations for workers to get around island neighborhoods, Bell said.
Some workers end up walking or biking, while others test their luck and drive anyway, he said.
"Could you figure out how you would handle your life every day without a driver's license?" Bell said after the meeting. "These people come to work. They are doing a very good job. ... You need some things to perform your job. One of those things that is vital in life is a driver's license."
But state Rep. JoAnne Gilham, R-Hilton Head, said the state's driver's license requirements are valid.
The S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles requires a birth certificate, Social Security card, proof of residency and insurance information to issue a driver's license.
"I think you understand that in protection of our country, we've had to make it harder to get driver's licenses," Gilham said at the meeting. "I have a very difficult time making legal someone who is illegally in our community."
She told Bell that illegal immigrants should address the transportation problem by becoming legal residents.
"Then I don't think the driver's licenses are going to be a problem," she said.
Bell said it's not the state and local governments' responsibility to question whether residents are legal immigrants -- that's the job of the federal government. And Latino immigrants are not terrorists, he said. They have simply come to work.
But Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head, questioned whether the federal government actually is trying to solve the island's problem of illegal immigrants.
"We're not getting very much help right now from the federal government," Richardson said.
Bell has said about 20,000 Latinos live in Beaufort County, and he estimates that about 80 percent may be illegal immigrants.
Gilham said the issue of illegal immigrants and their impact on the community is an issue that needs to be addressed.
"It's becoming an emotional issue," she said. "When things become an emotional issue, they don't solve very easily."
Hilton Head resident John Ingram agreed that the issue is emotional. Ingram, who leads a group called Citizens for a Better Community, came Monday to petition the delegation for help in solving the problems his group says illegal immigrants can cause.
In particular, immigrants force local workers out of jobs or drive down wages, Ingram told lawmakers. They also benefit from social services but pay no taxes, he said.
"We have a major problem and no one seems to want to listen," Ingram said.