Senate Passes Nation’s Strongest Illegal Immigration Reform Bill
Filed Under Caucus, Top News, Ritchie
Ritchie Revives Immigration Reform
Columbia, SC - Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg) and the South Carolina Senate passed the “toughest illegal immigration reform bill in the nation.” The bill passed is a tight net of enforceable provisions that will capture willful violators. The bill contains the most stringent fines in the nation, which are designed to drive illegal aliens out of South Carolina.
The bill creates the South Carolina Verify method, a state verification system with aggressive enforcement provisions that will be monitored and checked by South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations. As opposed to federal E-Verify, SC Verify gives the state the authority to enforce citizenship requirements and scrutinize the legal status of all South Carolina workers. The new state verification system is the first of its kind in the nation.
“This bill establishes the most aggressive illegal immigration reform law in the nation,” says Senator Ritchie. “It provides for E-Verify along with S.C. Verify, which enables state government to investigate and penalize businesses that hire illegal aliens and does not allow employers to hide behind the federal I-9.”
Senator Ritchie has spent the last two years promoting the importance of this issue to South Carolinians. Earlier this session, Senator Ritchie introduced legislation that for the first time included private employer verification as part of illegal immigration reform.
“I am happy to let our citizens know that thanks to the perseverance of Senators Ritchie, Campsen and Sheheen, the Senate has passed the toughest illegal immigration bill in the nation with stringent rules, audits and penalties,” says Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston). “ We have sent a signal to illegal
immigrants that their presence in South Carolina will not be met with indifference, but instead with strong laws and vigilant enforcement.”
The bill will receive a final vote in the Senate tomorrow before being sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.
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I am glad to see that the Senate has finally listened to the citizens of South Carolina and voted in favor of its struggling tax payers. Good work to all those who voted in favor of E-Verify !