State House bill would crack down on illegal immigration

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Since the young couple got married last year, Tracy, a New York native now living in Greenville, makes sure all of his Venezuelan wife's paperwork is in order showing that she is legally living in the United States — just in case she gets pulled over or runs into other problems.

"I told her in the beginning that there are a lot of ways that we could have done this through people that say they can help you, but let's do it the right way," said Tracy, 29. "Then we can say we did it the way you told us to."

One reason the Rodriguezes are fearful stems from the crackdown on immigration after the Sept. 11 attacks. But pending state legislation could give them more to worry about.

Dubbed "The Illegal Alien Enforcement Act," the bill would authorize state and local law enforcement officers to arrest and detain individuals believed to be in the United States illegally until they can be handed over to federal authorities.

State Rep. John Altman, R-Charleston, introduced the bill in December 2002. He told The Greenville News last week that he felt it was necessary for state governments to enforce immigration because federal authorities were failing to "protect the borders."

"I want South Carolina to be known as a state that is very unfriendly to someone who is here illegally," said Altman. The bill currently sits in a House judiciary committee.

While his wife is here legally, Rodriguez said it is hard for immigrants and their spouses to keep track of such state laws when they travel, so he keeps the paperwork organized just in case Yaritza's status is ever questioned.

"I don't want to have to go through that," he said. "We keep copies of all the paperwork we've turned in. We keep the pamphlets, the instruction book — we keep everything."

One local state representative said he disagrees with Altman's bill. Rep. Fletcher Smith, D-Greenville, said he welcomes all immigrants — be they legal or illegal — as long as they are not terrorists.

"I don't have any problem with them being here," said Smith. "I think they are some of the hardest-working people around and I think any time you have competition in the labor force, you get a better product."

Ulises Rodriguez, 20, said he found a job as a groundskeeper just weeks after arriving in Greenville from Mexico in January 2001. But he doesn't think it would be that easy now.

"I feel good," he said. "After September 11, it's more security."

A University of North Carolina demographics expert said that while federal authorities may be hunting terrorists, any crackdown on immigrant laborers may spur a "backlash" from employers in construction, poultry processing and other industries who thrive on immigrant labor.

"None of the terrorists were Hispanic immigrants," said James Johnson, director of the university's Urban Investment Strategies Center. "Most of the people who would be caught would work for some firm in the community ... and moreover the person you capture would likely have a family and children born in America."

"Our economy hinges on these people coming here," he added.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — which absorbed the INS as part of the massive restructuring under the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11 — said the bureau's priorities are catching immigrants that pose a security risk, have committed other crimes, are involved in alien smuggling or have standing deportation orders.

"Like any law enforcement agency, we have to prioritize our strategy and devote the resources to the greatest threats to the country," said John Shewairy, spokesman for ICE headquarters in Washington. "If you got someone who has an application pending and it's likely to be approved, they're not going to get rounded up."

But any immigrant who is here illegally has reason to worry, he said.

"If someone had broken the immigration laws of this country, that's a crime."