South Carolina under fire on immigration

[okie52]

Immigration Groups Shift Focus to SC
Wednesday, 13 Mar 2013 11:22 PM
By Matthew Auerbach

Factions on both sides of immigration reform have staked out South Carolina in an effort to state their cases on this hot-button issue.

On Wednesday, a coalition of pro-reform groups began a major advertising and grassroots campaign in the state to argue for their side and to commend Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for his efforts on its behalf, the Hill reports.

This comes just weeks after NumbersUSA, a group that strongly opposes the bipartisan Senate framework for immigration reform, used its first commercials of the election cycle to attack Graham.

Graham may be a lightning rod for both sides, but he’s by no means the only reason the state has become a battleground for the issue.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration panel, will play a pivotal role in creating any immigration deal in Congress.

“South Carolina is important both because Sen. Graham has been part of the group of senators who have been courageously taking this issue on ... and you also have of course Trey Gowdy,” said Richard Land, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“It’s up to us to convince [Gowdy] that the majority of the members of his district support comprehensive immigration reform, and we believe they do.”

Land is involved with the Evangelical Immigration Table, a group that launched radio ads on Christian radio stations across the state on Wednesday.

The group argues, in biblical terms, why Christians should support immigration reform.

Other groups have begun a campaign in the state, including Republicans for Immigration Reform, a new group formed by Carlos Gutierrez, former President George W. Bush’s Commerce secretary, and Charlie Spies, who ran Mitt Romney’s super-PAC.

They’ve hooked up with Partnership for a New American Economy, a nonpartisan business group, to run ads in the state applauding Graham for his stance.

“When you look at South Carolina, it is such a leader for the rest of the country on a lot of these issues,” said Jeremy Robbins, the director of Partnership for a New American Economy.

“It has agriculture, it has business, it has faith, it has tourism.

“South Carolina is a great platform to start, and certainly the rest of the country is looking to see what Lindsey Graham is going to do.”

The GOP could view the deeply conservative state as a test case for how far it has moved on immigration.

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[FaninAma]

[morning rant begins]The immigration reform issue is stupid. We have immigration laws that aren't enforced. The whole issue would go away if you started jailing employers who were shown to knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The same goes for government workers who knowingly sign up illegal immigrants over the age of 18 for taxpayer subsidized benefits.

The whole issue is a sham. Lindsey Graham is an idiot as are the members of the Southern Baptist Convention. [/morning rant over]

[Bourbon St Sooner]

Exactly what we need to do in this country is jail employers:rolleyes:

[FaninAma]

Exactly what we need to do in this country is jail employers:rolleyes:

If they are breaking the law why not? Give me a good reason...just one. Illegal immigration costs this country hundreds of billions of dollars. And if we get to pick and choose which laws we care to uphold and which ones we want to ignore I will whole-heartedly join that movement.

I work with 2 physicians from Cost Rica and they complain more than I do about illegal immigration because they had to go through the process of legally applying and getting the appropriate government approval. They are also much more critical of those who come here illegally than I am.

[okie52]

[morning rant begins]The immigration reform issue is stupid. We have immigration laws that aren't enforced. The whole issue would go away if you started jailing employers who were shown to knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The same goes for government workers who knowingly sign up illegal immigrants over the age of 18 for taxpayer subsidized benefits.

The whole issue is a sham. Lindsey Graham is an idiot as are the members of the Southern Baptist Convention. [/morning rant over]

I agree.

[XingTheRubicon]

at least fine them

[Soonerjeepman]

know 2 guys...one voted for obama the first time, now owns a small business ( had a remodel one already ) and can't stand him...lol. Both have hired illegals to do construction work, why? save them $$$$ so THEY make more. The mexicans work harder and do a better job but for less. One has been fined big time and doesn't do it anymore...the other hasn't been caught yet so he still has them. The one who got caught had 7 or 8 guys, $10K a piece fine so yes fining them does work. The other only uses 2 or 3...not sure what he would do. He has had a guy or 2 get caught elsewhere and been sent home.

IF they ENFORCE the laws on the books then employers will NOT do it.

[okie52]

know 2 guys...one voted for obama the first time, now owns a small business ( had a remodel one already ) and can't stand him...lol. Both have hired illegals to do construction work, why? save them $$$$ so THEY make more. The mexicans work harder and do a better job but for less. One has been fined big time and doesn't do it anymore...the other hasn't been caught yet so he still has them. The one who got caught had 7 or 8 guys, $10K a piece fine so yes fining them does work. The other only uses 2 or 3...not sure what he would do. He has had a guy or 2 get caught elsewhere and been sent home.

IF they ENFORCE the laws on the books then employers will NOT do it.

Heavy fines would work...surprised ANYBODY EVER GOT CAUGHT given our current state of immigration.

[Bourbon St Sooner]

If they are breaking the law why not? Give me a good reason...just one. Illegal immigration costs this country hundreds of billions of dollars. And if we get to pick and choose which laws we care to uphold and which ones we want to ignore I will whole-heartedly join that movement.

I work with 2 physicians from Cost Rica and they complain more than I do about illegal immigration because they had to go through the process of legally applying and getting the appropriate government approval. They are also much more critical of those who come here illegally than I am.

Police selectively choose to enforce laws every day. How many cops do you need raiding employers' offices to find out if somebody might be hiring an illegal?

[KantoSooner]

Very heavy fines might work, over time. Locking up company owners would work within 24 hours of the first one going to play hide the soap with Bubba and the boys.

[Midtowner]

Exactly what we need to do in this country is jail employers:rolleyes:

Which does more harm? Being in the possession of a couple of joints or employing illegal aliens?

[pphilfran]

Police selectively choose to enforce laws every day. How many cops do you need raiding employers' offices to find out if somebody might be hiring an illegal?

How many case workers will we need to track and have follow up meetings with ten million illegals that are on the path to citizenship?

What do we do with those that fail the background check? How many resources will be needed to track this group down and show em the door?

What do we do with those that fail to meet the requirements within a specified time frame? Same thing here...how large a resource base will be needed?

[SoonerorLater]

This is a real red meat issue with me. I'm sick of these bleeping politicians trying to confound us with their non-sequitar reasoning. We need to tell these !@#$birds we don't need or want immigration reform, whatever that means. Just enforce our laws. Don't even talk to us about reform until you enforce current laws.

I want all illegals gone. What about illegal do these knuckleheads not understand? We could clear up this problem in no time, mandatory employer fines fines for first offenses, prison time for more offenses. Most people don't understand the unbearable cost that these people put on our country in the form of overcrowded schools, hospitals and all manner of social services. I for one am sick of footing the bill in the form of taxes and public borrowing. They need to go home. Now.

[okie52]

Which does more harm? Being in the possession of a couple of joints or employing illegal aliens?

Good chance those two illegal aliens brought those joints over the border.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

[morning rant begins]The immigration reform issue is stupid. We have immigration laws that aren't enforced. The whole issue would go away if you started jailing employers who were shown to knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The same goes for government workers who knowingly sign up illegal immigrants over the age of 18 for taxpayer subsidized benefits.

Duh!!!

I live in PHX, and I remember one day in '06, when the "si se puede" march occurred, coming right down my home street. I'm all WTF is this shat all about? That was my first encounter with the whole sordid clusterphk.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

This is a real red meat issue with me. I'm sick of these bleeping politicians trying to confound us with their non-sequitar reasoning. We need to tell these !@#$birds we don't need or want immigration reform, whatever that means. Just enforce our laws. Don't even talk to us about reform until you enforce current laws.

I want all illegals gone. What about illegal do these knuckleheads not understand? We could clear up this problem in no time, mandatory employer fines fines for first offenses, prison time for more offenses. Most people don't understand the unbearable cost that these people put on our country in the form of overcrowded schools, hospitals and all manner of social services. I for one am sick of footing the bill in the form of taxes and public borrowing. They need to go home. Now.It really is no more complicated than that.. Well, of course the problem won't stop until we have a reasonably secure border. That's the first thing that has to be treated seriously.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

[morning rant begins]The immigration reform issue is stupid. We have immigration laws that aren't enforced. The whole issue would go away if you started jailing employers who were shown to knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The same goes for government workers who knowingly sign up illegal immigrants over the age of 18 for taxpayer subsidized benefits.

The whole issue is a sham. Lindsey Graham is an idiot as are the members of the Southern Baptist Convention. [/morning rant over]

I don't think so. The I-9 employment verification procedure is easy to process so that there is no evidence the employer had knowledge an employee is illegally present.