Gov. Sanford Issues Statement on Immigration Reform Bill

GOVERNOR URGES CONFEREES TO ACT QUICKLY, INCLUDE STRONG WORKER VERIFICATION SYSTEM

Columbia, S.C. - March 6, 2008 - Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on the immigration reform bills currently being deliberated by a House-Senate conference committee. The bills aimed at addressing illegal immigration in our state were called for by the governor during his State of the State address as part of his “First 30 Days” agenda:

“I’d give the House and Senate real credit for all the hard work they’ve put in so far on this bill, and for recognizing since Washington has failed to act on this issue that as a state we have to be very clear about not creating incentives for illegal behavior,” Gov. 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.”

Currently, 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, an ineffective system already employed by the federal government and fraught with the potential for abuse due to ID fraud. Governor Sanford would favor a system similar to what was proposed by Senators Campsen and McConnell, that would require private employers to check South Carolina drivers licenses, a new S.C. version of the I-9, or use the online e-verify system. Four states already use e-verify, including Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, and neighboring Georgia.