Sanford says immigration bill falls short

Gov Mark Sanford, who has called on the Legislature to send him a bill cracking down on illegal immigration, said the bill before a House-Senate conference committee lacks teeth.

Sanford wants tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

"I'd give the House and Senate real credit for all the hard work they've put in so far on this bill" Sanford said. " ...That being said, a real pitfall when it comes to this bill is the idea of not including a meaningful verification requirement for private employees.

"While there are a number of legitimate issues for the conference committee to debate, all should agree that without some means of verifying the citizenship status of all workers in our state, this bill runs a real risk of not being as effectual as we need for it to be if we're serious about combating this problem."

According to a release from the Governor's Office, the House version of the bill does not contain any verification requirements for private employers. The Senate version contains a requirement for I-9 verification, which Sanford calls "an ineffective system already employed by the federal government and fraught with the potential for abuse due to ID fraud."

Comments

[john]

i say keep em out. jobs were just cut by 63,000. its hard enough for the legal citizens to get a good job without illegals taking them

[Carolina Politics]

Sanford is making the right move. All that talk from the General Assembly about cracking down on illegal immigration and what we got was wimpy, wimpy, wimpy instead of the Hefty bag. They need to come up with a verification that is more reliant the I-9 from the Feds.

[Rick Rosado]

I lost a job to an illegal alien . After working for a company 8 years . A job that had health benefits . I am now collecting unemployment, a whole $240.00 a week . No health benefits , I cant even get food stamps . But yet an illgeal alien who has my job is getting food stamps , free health care and what ever they getting for free . And let us not forget an education for there illegal children . All paid for by the tax payers of the hard working men and women of this state . For those of you who have a job , you need to watch your back because some of are elected officials in this state are ready to stick a knife it . When are we going to have a goverment that are for its people and not some lobbyist with a suitcase full of money . Many other states have already passed some great immigration laws . Arizona just passed a great one . We need a law just like the one they passed . All I can say is just remember those politicians who are fighting against this . And remember them when its time for reelection . Rick Rosado Myrtle Beach

[anonymous]

Mark Sanford on the topic of illegal immigration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHJohB8htGk

[Julia]

There is already a system in place to verify whether social security numbers are legal. I worked for a bank for many years and we had a system that would verify whether a ssn was valid or not and whether it matched the name or not. Quit making excuses. There is a simple solution, you just don't want one.

[richard]

people should not worry about this stuff.it is just a part of the greater plan. north american union.it is a disgrace what is going on in this country.what are we leaving our grand kids.