Senators Accused of “Caving” on Immigration Bill

Written by Bob Dill

Feb 20, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Did Sen. Ritchie Lie? Sen. Jim Ritchie at Simpsonville townhall meeting. Senator Jim Ritchie has been the champion of South Carolinians seeking passage of a bill similar to that passed by lawmakers in Georgia, Oklahoma and Arizona to rid the state of illegal aliens and the problems and costs accompanying them. But something happened last week. Suddenly Sen. Ritchie, according to Roan Garcia-Quintana in his Americans have had Enough website, has allegedly been instrumental in gutting the bill he has championed for more than a year. Americans Have Had Enough reports that “Sen. Ritchie and others caved in to the Chamber of Commerce and the Farm Bureau to give private businesses an “escape route’ from prosecution for hiring illegal aliens.” Ritchie is being accused of falsely stating at a town-hall meeting in Simpsonville last Friday that, “You cannot make a private employer use the federal government’s E-verify system. The Arizona law does not do that.” The Arizona law states that: “After December 31, 2007, every employer, after hiring an employee, shall verify the employment eligibility of the employee through the basic pilot program (The basic pilot program became the E-Verify program, once its piloting phase was deemed complete.). The SC Farm Bureau Weekly Legislative Report states that Senators Ritchie, Harvey Peeler, Brad Hutto, Billy O’Dell, Vincent Sheheen, John Land and Nikki Setzler “were instrumental in working with the SCFB and the business community to ensure a final product that we could all live with. These Senators need to be contacted and thanked.” The change, according to supporters of the original bill, creates a loophole for employers to employ illegal aliens.