Governor Sanford Thanks Senate for Strong Immigration Bill

GOVERNOR SAYS SENATE BILL PROVIDES FOR
STRONG EMPLOYER VERIFICATION RULES

Columbia, S.C. - May 27, 2008 - Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on the immigration reform plan adopted by the Senate today:

"There'ss been a lot of back and forth on this bill over the past few weeks, but we believe the end result that the Senate approved today is what everyone was after the whole time - a strong an enforceable immigration bill," Gov. Sanford said. "We'd also thank the Senate for giving our office time to review and give feedback on this version of the bill, because we think that process of give and take has ultimately resulted in a good bill. We believe that to have offered an alternative to e-verify like a state version of the I-9 would have guaranteed that e-verify wouldn't have been used - and to that end, we're pleased the Senate ultimately agreed to remove those troubling provisions. We'd give particular to Senators Campsen, Martin, McConnell and Ritchie for their hard work on this bill, and are looking forward to it coming to our desk as soon as possible."