Immigration Politics - South Carolina Immigration crackdown debated by legislature

Another state, South Carolina, steps into the immigration fray

Immigration crackdown debated | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC: "COLUMBIA -- South Carolina lawmakers are approaching the matter of a further crackdown on illegal immigration from several perspectives.

Take the state budget. Lawmakers face a $1 billion budget shortfall when they return to session in January, but the state continues to pay unknown amounts to house illegal immigrants in prisons and jails, process them through the judicial system and provide social services and schooling to their children.

'It's costing us as a society a significant amount of money for them to be here in an undocumented state,' Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said.

For Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, illegal immigration is a matter of human welfare. With violence in Mexico and some Latin American countries spiking, Ford said illegal immigrants in South Carolina should be given a safe harbor, at least temporarily." Nov. 26, 2010