COLUMBIA - Cinthia Duenaz used a fake Social Security card and work permit to get a job slicing skins and bones from chicken breasts at a Gold Kist plant in Sumter.

Her first name on her job application - Cinthia - was spelled differently from the "Cynthia" on her work permit. Gold Kist either did not notice or did not care that she was an illegal immigrant.

The company, however, did care about her legal status when she fell off a stool at work and needed medical treatment. Gold Kist tried, unsuccessfully, to refuse paying for her treatment.

Duenaz isn't alone.

"Antonio," a 19-year-old illegal worker who lost his leg while burying cable lines two years ago, also ran into the same problem when it came time to pay his hospital bills.

Attorneys who represent illegal immigrants in workers' compensation cases say insurance companies often try to deny payments. Duenaz hired a lawyer to file a workers' compensation claim on her behalf.

Gold Kist denied the claim and said Duenaz was not covered because she was an illegal worker.

The S.C. Worker's Compensation Commission ruled in Duenaz's favor this month. Under workers' compensation laws, legal residency does not matter.

Bills filed in the S.C. General Assembly would change that.

Who pays when an illegal worker is injured on the job increasingly is an issue in South Carolina, where hundreds of immigrants arrive each year to work.

They often take on dangerous jobs for low wages and are injured at higher rates than other workers.

Many do not speak English, so they don't understand safety instructions - if they receive training at all.

Illegal immigrants also rarely understand federal and state employment laws, so they do not know the protections they are entitled to receive.

This gives employers a chance to take advantage of the workers, especially after they get hurt, advocates for the workers say.

People who do not want illegal immigrants in the community say the workers should lose protection when they sneak into the country and then lie about their status to get a job.

Pushing legislation

In January, two state representatives filed bills that would eliminate workers' compensation claims for illegal immigrants who obtain jobs through fraud, such as presenting fake ID cards and Social Security numbers.

The proposed changes are part of an effort to rewrite the state's workers' compensation laws.

The move to deny illegal workers' claims has not progressed in the legislature.

The move concerns the state's Hispanic community, which makes up the largest number of undocumented workers.

"Obviously, we're opposed," said Edgar Medina, chairman of the S.C. Hispanic Leadership Council. "You want to have them here to work and sacrifice, but when something goes wrong, you don't want to take care of them. It's narrow-minded."

Hispanic workers make up 3 percent of South Carolina's population and account for about 20 percent of workplace deaths and injuries.

Last year, a fifth of the 34 S.C. workers killed were Hispanic.

Debating immigration, jobs

The bills before the legislature would not stop illegal immigrants from seeking jobs in South Carolina, Lexington lawyer Mark Calhoun said.

If the measures passed, "they would allow employers to cheat. They could hire people who were illegal, and, when they got hurt, they wouldn't have to pay them," he said.

A sponsor of one of the bills, Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Oconee, said jobs belong to U.S. citizens and those who have gone through proper legal channels.

The S.C. Chamber of Commerce generally supports changes to the workers' compensation program but has not spoken on the illegal-immigrant issue. Under most workers' compensation programs, a business is protected from lawsuits by injured workers. Eliminating workers' compensation coverage could provide the opportunity to sue employers.