SCHotline Press Releases

Senate Forces House to Take Stand on Private Employer Verification

Columbia, SC – Today, Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg), Chairman of the Joint Legislative Conference Committee on illegal immigration reform, forced House conference committee members to return to their body and get a vote on private employer verification. The Senate’s Illegal Immigration Reform Act is the only bill that has ever included a requirement for private employers to verify the legal immigration status of new hires. Recent political maneuvers by the House put the bill in jeopardy due to their refusals to include private employers in their legislation.

“The House has ducked this issue from its inception, the House returned the Senate bill without addressing private employers, the House sent their own immigration bill to the Senate without addressing private employers, the House voted to nonconcur with Senate amendments that include private employers,” says Senator Ritchie.

“The Senate has consistently supported the inclusion of private employer verification as part of the illegal immigration reform package, a stance the House has never taken, other than in press releases,” says Senator Ritchie. “If the House is so interested in private employer verification requirements they need to vote for it this week.”

“I am pleased the House has finally realized the importance of the issue, the problem is their propaganda pumps and the actions of the body do not match,” says Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Glenn McConnell. “The Senate version of illegal immigration reform has been in both chambers and through numerous committees and the House has never offered an amendment that would include private employer verification. Instead of sending out press releases, the House needs to hold a vote on private employer verification.”

Committee members pledged to keep working toward an agreement and House committee members will seek to gain their first vote on private employer verification.

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