Law Enforcement Raises Concerns Over SC Immigration Bill

As the South Carolina Senate continues to debate an Arizona-style immigration bill, law enforcement officials are raising concerns.

"There are a lot of things that we are supposed to do, but just from a practical and logistical standpoint I don't know that they're all going to happen," says Jeff Moore, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriffs Association.

Senators debated the bill Wednesday and briefly Thursday before adjourning for the week. They're expected to resume debate next week.

The bill would direct local law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone they have reason to believe is in the country illegally, but only after the person is stopped or arrested for something else. The bill would not allow someone to be held only on suspicion of being illegal.

Moore says the first problem would pop up right away because an officer would have to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, to check the person's immigration status.

"The problem with that is we can make that phone call but they won't call us back with the information if they have the information. They will only respond to a 287(g) program or another ICE agent. So the practicality of that is just not there," Moore says.

The 287(g) program is an agreement between ICE and a state or local law enforcement agency that allows the local agency to enforce immigration laws, using federally authorized computers, software and databases.

But Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, one of the co-sponsors of the immigration bill, says ICE will call back any law enforcement agency, but it may take some time. Whether the return call is fast enough will depend on what the original charge is against the person being detained.

"If it's a criminal domestic violence charge or it's a drunk driving charge, that would be sufficient time for ICE to get back," he says. "But if it's not a sufficient charge, no."

Another problem for law enforcement is that illegal immigrants can only be detained on immigration charges in a federally accredited detention center and there are only three in the state, in Lexington, York and Charleston counties.

"The three facilities in this state won't accept that individual unless there's a federal detainer on them," Moore says. "So if we transport them and we're denied access to the detention center what are we supposed to do? Handcuff them to a fence? Drop them off or bring them back?"

Besides the concerns from law enforcement, there is opposition in the Senate. Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville, says it's "feel-good" legislation that accomplishes little.

"Why do we need it? We just passed immigration a few years ago that was touted as the toughest bill in the country," he says.

South Carolina is one of at least 15 state legislatures working on bill similar to Arizona's law, parts of which have been put on hold by a federal judge.