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Wilson concerned about amnesty for immigrants
Add CommentU.S. Rep. Joe Wilson said Thursday he is concerned that Democrats taking control of both houses of Congress in January could back amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Such a move could foil local efforts to stabilize labor markets flooded with illegal immigrants, an issue addressed by the Beaufort County Council's newly passed Lawful Employment Ordinance, which uses business license suspensions to penalize employers discovered with illegal workers.
Wilson, a South Carolina Republican who represents Beaufort County, made the statement after his annual legislative press conference outside his office in downtown Beaufort, where he outlined goals for the upcoming session of Congress.
His goals were light on specifics, but included:
Remaining on the offensive in the war on terror and accelerating training of Iraqi security forces;
Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, which provides financial aid to college students, and the No Child Left Behind Act, which creates test-based benchmarks that schools must meet or face tough penalties;
Advocating fiscally responsible, pro-growth policies; and pushing for small business health plans, which create networks to spread out risk and reduce health care costs, and continuing implementation of Medicare Part D, which provides seniors with reduced price
prescription drugs.
"We'll be sworn in Thursday and get to work," Wilson said.
Immigration reform was noticeably absent from his speech and a poster outlining his agenda, though County Council Vice Chairman Skeet Von Harten raised the issue during the event.
When asked later about the County Council's efforts to stem illegal immigration, Wilson said, "I'm not going to pass the buck. This is a federal issue."
Contact Jeremy Hsieh at 986-5548 or jhsiehbeaufortgazette.com.
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