Democrats plan to stall immigration bill

House Minority Leader Harry Ott said he will divert debate today on a controversial immigration bill, forcing lawmakers who say they are anxious to pass a bill this year to forestall discussion for at least a day.

Uneasy about new Senate-passed legislation on the issue, caucus members took sharp aim at the bill, which is expected to come up today in the House.

Sanford: Immigration bill not tough enough

Gov. Mark Sanford said again Thursday the immigration bill passed by the Senate falls short of his expectations. Sanford called on citizens to let lawmakers know of their displeasure with the bill.

The bill, which woud require employers to take additional steps to verify the employees they hire are in the United States legally, doesn't require employers to use an electronic verification system Sanford prefers. Instead, the so-called E-verify system is one of three options an employer would have. A valid S.C. drivers license and a state form to verify immigration status could also be used. 

"By stripping out the e-verify requirement last night, the Senate has taken out the single most effective part of this immigration reform bill," Gov. Sanford said. "For anyone who cares about real immigration reform, the time is now for them to email or call their Senator or House member - or better yet show up in person at the State House on Tuesday to tell their elected leaders face-to-face how they feel."

Land takes floor to filibuster immigration bill

S.C. Senate is in recess after Sen. John Land began a filibuster to an immigration bill the Senate is attempting to pass.

Both the House and Senate have voted on immigration bills that require employers to take additional steps in verifying whether the workers they hire are in the United States legally.

But a conference committee appointed to ironing out the differences in the bill has not been able to agree on a final version.

The Senate has drafted a new bill and added it to a House bill that essentially gives the General Assembly a way out of its stalemate.

But Land, D-Clarendon, said the Senate's immigration bill would hurt farmers in his district.

Quote of the Day so far: Jake Knotts

"So you mean to tell me that if the Sunset Grille, right over here in Lexington County, has dishes stacked up and wants to hire a dishwasher they have to go to the (S.C.) Employment Security         Commission first?"

                                -- Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, expressing concern the proposed immigration bill that would require employers to verify citizenship before hiring through an online system would be inconvenienced.

House Dems take stand on immigration bill

House Democrats say they have  a message for their Republican counterparts: no free conference powers on immigration.

Minority Leader Harry Ott Tuesday put Caucus members on notice asking them not to vote to give Republican conferees the power to "re-write the immigration bill."

"If we stick together, we can keep that from happening," said Ott, D-Calhoun.

Immigration squabbling continues

The House and Senate have continued their squabbling over passing stricter state requirements against hiring illegal aliens.
While there are disagreements over the bills, the main dispute has been parliamentary procedure.

The bill requires "free conference" powers to reach a compromise, allowing negotiators leeway to script a new version in conference committee. Free conference requires a two-thirds majority, a hurdle neither house might be able to clear.

House Dems oppose ID portion of immigration bill

House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, said Tuesday he opposes a House conference committee's attempt to negotiate a deal on immigration that is based on language that does appear in the bill passed by the House of Representatives.

During the Democratic Caucus meeting Tuesday, Ott said  most caucus members voted for the House bill, which incorporates use of the I-9 regulations for identification of workers by employers, but they have not voted in favor of the House conferees' attempts to substitute use of  other forms of identification such as driver's licenses to ensure a worker's correct  legal status.

Sanford: Immigration bill falls short

Gov. Mark Sanford said again today the illegal immigration bills being negotiated between the S.C. House and Senate do not go far enough.

Sanford pushes DUI, immigration reforms

Gov. Mark Sanford will call for the passage of tougher DUI laws and a crackdown on illegal immigration in a news conference scheduled for Tuesday.

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.

Harrell: PACT, DUI high on agenda this week

Speaker Bobby Harrell said the House will have a busy week as both houses have acted on key legislation.

The House will deal with changing PACT testing this week, but Harrell said of a restructuring bill "we're not quite ready to take that up." House leaders were still trying to line up votes, he said.

Two bills will likely begin conference committees this week: tightening immigration and DUI laws.

House: Senate has watered down immigration bill

The House rejected changes the Senate made to its illegal immigration bill, saying the changes create gigantic loopholes in a bill that would punish employers for hiring illegal workers. 

Concerns that representatives expressed today included a provision that exempts nonprofit groups from charges of harboring illegal immigrants. The bill will now head to conference committee where lawmakers will try to hash out a compromise.

“The Senate is hiding behind a smokescreen of press releases after last week’s faux debate,” said Majority Leader Jim Merrill in a news release from the House Republican Caucus.  “What is most surprising is that a number of Senators who are most deft at passing legislation shockingly could not convince their colleagues on the importance of a tough law.”

“Facts are facts and the loopholes are wider than our unprotected border,” said Merrill.  “We will work with the Senators to fix that.”

The Senate bill, according to the House Republican Caucus, removes language that would let the state seek permission from the federal government to deport illegal immigrants and removes penalties placed on contractors who fail to comply with employment verification on public contracts, "giving the state no recourse against anyone profiting from public projects while hiring illegal immigrants."

Immigration, scholarships on the agenda

House lawmakers expect a busy week of debate on the floor this week, as a number of high-profile bills have been approved by committees.

Chief among them, said House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, is a bill requiring businesses install fire sprinklers. The House will also have to vote on Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of a bill expanding Palmetto Fellowship and LIFE scholarships.

In the Senate, lawmakers are trying to finalize a package of bills tightening the state's enforcement of illegal immigration.

Barrett calls on House to enforce immigration laws

U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., has introduced a resolution in the U.S. House calling on Congress to enforce immigration laws previously adopted.

Barrett, the Oconee County resident who represents South Carolina’s 3rd District, said Wednesday that members of Congress “need to live up to the laws you pass.”

“It’s real simple,” Barrett said. “If we say the fence is going to be funded, you need to fully fund it. If it says it needs to be built, you need to build it.”

Barrett introduced the resolution on Monday and later Wednesday has a meeting with between 70 and 100 other representatives in an effort to build support for the non-binding resolution.
The measure is an attempt to send a message to the House and Senate that the American people are angry about the immigration situation and Congress needs to better police itself.

While legislation has been adopted calling for a fence hundreds of miles long to be built along part of the U.S.-Mexico border, it is far from complete, Barrett said.

“These are laws that are on the books,” Barrett said. “These are commitments the United States Congress has made and for whatever reason there’s been very little oversight.”

Wilson to hold town hall on immigration

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., will hold a pair of Midlands town hall meetings next week on illegal immigration. Wilson, who represents much of the Midlands as part of the 2nd District, will hold the meetings from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Lexington Town Hall conference center, 111 Maiden Lane in Lexington; and from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the USC-Beaufort South Auditorium, 1 University Boulevard, in Bluffton.

Graham, Chertoff tout system that IDs illegal workers

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham came to Columbia Tuesday with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to tout an electronic identification system that employers can use in hiring to help ferret out illegal immigrants.

Graham, R-S.C., said he will introduce a bill in October that would replace current Social Security cards with a biometric identification card over 10 years that will be harder for counterfeiters to duplicate.

Graham, who is under heavy fire from Republicans for his support of a failed Senate bill that would have provided illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, said the issue is “a national security problem,” and is central to the U.S. war on terror.

“That’s why I’m going to get back up on the horse,” Graham said. “As a U.S. citizen I feel I owe more to South Carolinians than to say ‘no.’”

Chertoff and Graham met with state and local legislators and U.S. attorney Reggie Lloyd, among others, to talk over state leaders’ reluctance to sign on to a national Real ID law, and to promote use of a screening technology designed to uncover discrepancies between names and Social Security numbers on job applications. Chertoff said he hopes to add photographs to the technology soon to bolster results. Graham said replacing paper Social Security cards is a longer term, and more expensive project, that could cost $8 billion to $10 billion.

Graham, Chertoff to show how employers can verify legal status

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will be in Columbia on Tuesday to demonstrate a federal employee immigration status program.

Graham and Chertoff will show how the Employment Eligibility Verification program works. Mandatory use of the system is required under a recent Senate immigration bill. It is designed to help employers make sure employees are legally in the country.
According to Congressional Quarterly, the system is currently voluntary and is used by a fraction of the nation’s employers to verify immigration status of new employees. The immigration bill that recently failed in the Senate would have made the system mandatory.

The Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS), also known as Basic Pilot, is currently voluntary and is actively used by approximately 8,500 of the nation’s 5.9 million employers to verify a new employee’s work eligibility. It would have been made mandatory under the Senate immigration overhaul bill (S 1639) that failed in the Senate last month.

Graham amendment keys immigration bill vote

    WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham gained a major victory today as 64 senators voted to resume consideration of the immigration bill he has helped craft.
    Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina’s other senator and a leading opponent of the measure, was among the 35 senators who voted against moving it back to the Senate floor.
    DeMint vowed Monday to do everything in his power to stop the legislation, which he says grants amnesty to the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
    Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said prospects for the measure’s eventual passage in the Senate are boosted by a complex amendment Graham is offering. It has a number of provisions aimed at beefing up border enforcement and worker verification.
    ---James Rosen

Sens. McCain, Graham make case for immigration bill

The day before the U.S. Senate is to take up an all important vote on immigration, two of the strongest proponents of President Bush’s plan to legalize millions of illegal immigrants were in South Carolina on Monday, talking up the legislation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Arizona Sen. John McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, were in Columbia and Greenville, where McCain was to pick up an endorsement from Greenville Mayor Knox White.

“I’m hopeful we can move forward on a first test vote (Tuesday) and pass comprehensive immigration (reform) by the end of the week,” McCain said.

McCain attended a fund-raiser at a private residence in Columbia.
Graham, who is closely allied with McCain and backs his bid for the presidency, spoke to a leadership group in Columbia.

“If this bill passes, all things are possible,” Graham told about 200 members of the Leadership Columbia Alumni Association.

McCain has been heavily endorsed by prominent Republican leaders in South Carolina, but his campaign has slowed in the polls and he and Graham have taken criticism for their support of legalizing some 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants.