Senate should now approve immigration reform bill

Immigration reform has gone through some dizzying paces this session, batted back and forth between the House and the Senate, stymied in conference, revived in the Senate, and now amended in the House. Fortunately, the House has sent back to the Senate a bill that incorporates the best of all the versions. The Senate should concur with the House changes and end this contentious fight.

In effect, the House amendments have resulted in a bill much like that sanctioned by the conferees, but in limbo due to a rules technicality. The Senate improved on a House bill passed early in the session by requiring all private employers to verify the legal status of their employees as opposed to only those who do business with government agencies. But a number of Senate leaders charged that improvement was negated when the Senate majority also insisted, at the urging of business and farm interests, on adding a third verification system known as the I-9.

The two other options were the S.C. driver's license, now considered the most credible, and the federal, computerized E-Verify, viewed as successful in a number of other states. Critics of the I-9 federal paper verification system contend that opponents of reform insist on its inclusion because it is a proven failure.

The basic problem is that employers are prohibited from asking for underlying documentation. In other words, a faked Social Security card has to be accepted at face value.

In a critical vote last week, the House embraced the Senate's inclusion of all private employers in the verification requirement. It also eliminated the Senate's latest attempt at a paper verification system — which incorporated the I-9 — known as S.C. Verify. As a result, the bill now before the Senate only includes the two best tested verification systems — the S.C. driver's license and the federal computerized E-Verify.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell tells us that he decided to see for himself if the E-Verify system is as simple to use as advertised. According to the speaker, it took him about 45 minutes to complete the initial work of setting up his insurance business in the system. But after that was done, he said he verified the status of his nine employees in less than 10 minutes. No question, he said, the system passed his test.

The House did remove some of the tougher penalties in the Senate bill, an acknowledgment of Gov. Mark Sanford's concerns that they would be unenforceable because they are superseded by federal law. Instead, the House addressed the penalty issue primarily through a revocation of state licenses that wouldn't conflict with federal legislation.

According to our report, because not all counties issue business licenses, corporate certifications or professional licenses could also be in jeopardy. Some reform supporters reportedly have technical concerns about that penalty aspect of the bill, but believe they can be handled in separate legislation.

The House proved by its vote last week that it's serious about dealing with the immigration problem in this state. Now it's up to the Senate to ensure this session doesn't end without this much promised and anticipated reform.

---

Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.

---

Comments

This article has  0 comment(s)