Interesting Articles

So I found 2 articles I thought you all might be interested in:

South Carolina Lawmakers Pass Anti-Illegal Immigrant Bill via Latin American Herald Tribune

South Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature has approved a bill that would require police officers to check the immigration status of people they stop for another reason and force companies to ensure their employees are authorized to work in the United States.

SB 20, inspired by Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 law, will now go to the desk of GOP Gov. Nikki Haley, who has said she plans to sign it.

The state’s House of Representatives on Tuesday approved changes made last week by the Senate, which extended debate on the bill after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states have the right to compel employers to use the federal E-Verify system to determine whether jobseekers can legally work in the country.

Firms that defy the law could have their business license temporarily suspended or even revoked.

SB 20 requires police to review the immigration status of any person arrested or stopped for another reason and makes it a felony to make and sell fake photo IDs for undocumented immigrants.

The bill also makes it a misdemeanor for any adult – whether a foreigner or U.S. citizen – not to carry a form of official identification such as a driver’s license or immigration document while traveling within the state.

A wide swath of South Carolina’s economy, including the agriculture, construction, hotel, services and food sectors, depends in large part on immigrant labor, and farmers already have complained that – even with the bill still pending the governor’s signature – they are having trouble finding workers.

Data from the 2010 Census show that South Carolina’s Hispanic community increased by 147.7 percent over the past decade to 235,893, representing 5.1 percent of the state’s total population.

Yet, a study by the Pew Hispanic Center revealed that the number of undocumented immigrants in South Carolina fell 21.4 percent, from 70,000 to 55,000, since 2008. EFE

Data from the 2010 Census show that South Carolina’s Hispanic community increased by 147.7 percent over the past decade to 235,893, representing 5.1 percent of the state’s total population.

Yet, a study by the Pew Hispanic Center revealed that the number of undocumented immigrants in South Carolina fell 21.4 percent, from 70,000 to 55,000, since 2008. EFE

Feds Won't Deport Immigrants in Civil Rights Cases via Fox News Latino

The agency already allowed crime victims and witnesses to crimes to remain in the country.

"To avoid deterring individuals from reporting crimes and from pursuing actions to protect their civil rights, ICE officers, special agents and attorneys are reminded to exercise all appropriate discretion on a case-by-case basis when making detention and enforcement decisions in the cases of victims of crimes, witnesses to crime and individuals pursuing legitimate civil rights complaints," the memo states.

The policy could help hundreds and eventually thousands of immigrants, including immigrants facing wage and other issues on the job, Wishnie said. Immigrants are concentrated in low wage jobs and often face abuses, but in the past might not bother to pursue such claims, believing they would be deported before the cases were resolved, he said.

"When there is a civil rights complaint, one of the best ways to get rid of it was to deport the complainer," Williams said. "I don't know that anybody set out to get rid of a case that way but it winds up being a great way to get rid of cases."

Williams said there are not a lot of cases because immigrants are reluctant to file civil rights complaints.

But Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank that supports tighter immigration controls, said the policy would encourage more claims as a way to prevent deportations. He questioned how officials would determine what is a legitimate complaint.

Krikorian said the Obama administration was not enthusiastic about enforcing immigration laws and was trying to ensure its civil rights allies that it was on their side.

But Gillian Christensen, an ICE spokeswoman, said the agency was prioritizing limited resources by focusing on criminal who are threats to public safety. More than half the immigrants deported last year were convicted criminals, a 70 percent increase in removal of criminal immigrants from the previous administration, she said.