Bill gives officers another tool to enforce our immigration laws
For an audio quote from Speaker Harrell on Illegal Immigration click here
(Columbia, SC) – By a 69 to 43 vote today, the SC House of Representatives passed a bill (S. 20) that will greatly strengthen our state’s existing illegal immigration policy by focusing on illegal aliens detained for breaking our laws.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell said, “It has become abundantly clear that if we want something done about illegal immigration, we’re going to have to do it ourselves. This bill gives our state’s law enforcement officers another valuable tool to use in the day-to-day fight they wage to enforce our immigration laws.”
After years of federal inaction on the issue, the SC General Assembly pushed for a comprehensive statewide illegal immigration policy in 2008, successfully passing “The South Carolina Plan” into law. At the time, it was the toughest state immigration law in the nation.
While many states are following South Carolina’s lead by passing strong immigration laws, they are limited in the overall actions they can take on the issue. The true power of change lies at the federal level, but despite the best efforts of South Carolina’s Congressional Delegation, neither Congress nor our nation’s Executive Branch have enacted the policies needed to fully address these concerns or properly secure our nation’s borders.
Harrell concluded, “Our citizens have voiced their support for this issue, and South Carolinians clearly want our nation’s standing federal immigration laws enforced. If the federal government refuses to enforce these laws, the South Carolina General Assembly will support state laws that do – and over the past several years, that is exactly what your state lawmakers have done.”
After a procedural third reading tomorrow, the bill (S. 20) will be returned to the Senate with plenty of time to get this new immigration measure to the Governor’s desk this year.
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****For the final roll call vote on S. 20 click here
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