|
What's
your view? Click
here to add your comment to this story.
| |
It's a federal issue, but in the absence of federal leadership,
state lawmakers are right to suggest state-level reforms.
State lawmakers shouldn't have to spend their time addressing
illegal immigration, but a state Senate study committee is on the
right track in holding public hearings on state-level immigration
reform.
During the committee's first hearing last week, a representative
from the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce correctly told the panel
that immigration is a federal issue. According to a report in The
News, Marcia Purday, the Chamber's vice president of communications,
also said, "We do not need a hodgepodge of different laws to deal
with this issue."
Purday is absolutely correct. The federal government should be
addressing illegal immigration. But it is failing miserably. That
leaves it to the states to figure how best to control illegal
immigration and the problems it brings. The state Senate is studying
a set of reforms similar to those approved earlier this year by
Georgia. Joel Sawyer, a spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, told News
reporter Tim Smith the governor supports such reforms.
|
Advertisement
|
 |
Here's a summary of Georgia's reforms:
Contractors working for state or local governments will be
required to verify the status of workers.
Applicants for public benefits will be required to verify their
eligibility, except in certain emergencies.
Beginning in 2008, all employers must verify the residency of
employees in order to claim a state income tax deduction on
employees' salaries.
Law enforcement agencies will be required to verify that people
charged with a felony or with driving under the influence are in the
country legally. Those who are not will be referred to federal
officials.
Those reforms will make Georgia an unfriendly place for illegal
immigrants to seek work. South Carolina would do well to follow
Georgia's lead.
Consider these statistics: In 2004, South Carolina had as many as
75,000 illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Center.
Illegal immigrants cost the state $185 million a year, according to
one pro-reform organization. Greenville Hospital System alone
estimates it spends $10 million a year on health care for illegal
immigrants, according to data it gave to Rep. Bob Inglis. People in
South Carolina wired $4.2 million to Arizona in 2005, much of which
is believed to have paid for smuggling and transporting illegal
immigrants, according to The Arizona Republic.
The federal government is failing the states by willfully
ignoring illegal immigration and its impact on state and local
governments and services. The federal government should enforce laws
already on the books, and Congress should pass comprehensive reform
to seal the borders, penalize employers and create a workable path
to citizenship for a limited number of the estimated 12 million
illegal immigrants already here. Until that happens, the General
Assembly is right to make state-level immigration reform a priority
next year. |
Greer
Top
Stories, Breaking News
