A United South Carolina

SC Appleseed Joins Amici Curiae in Opposing Arizona Immigration Law

Posted on March 27, 2012 by scjustice

South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center joined with other interested organizations in filing an Amicus (friend of the court) brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which struck down the Arizona law. Click to view Brief of Amici Curiae

SC Appleseed joined with many of the same organizations in challenging South Carolina’s copycat statute. Immigration enforcement is one of the few areas of law that the Supreme Court has held to be exclusively federal in nature. Because the federal government is granted power over issues of citizenship as well as the exclusive power to enter into treaties with foreign nations by the United States Constitution, most courts have held that state statutes that attempt to enforce immigration law outside the scope of federal guidelines are unconstitutional. Both Arizona and South Carolina passed statutes that attempted to regulate immigration by mandating enforcement by state and local police departments.

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona-copycat laws, immigrant community, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Law, S.B. 20 | Leave a Comment »

But We Have to Have Our Peaches!

Posted on March 21, 2012 by scjustice

As it turns out, there was a big giant loophole in South Carolina’s attempt to take the title of unfriendliest state for immigrants. South Carolina lawmakers must have seen stories about crops rotting in the fields in Alabama and Georgia, because as the Latin American Herald Tribune reports, South Carolina exempted farm labor from new e-verify requirements. But that’s not all. Legislators also saw fit to exempt nannies, pastors and some fishermen from the requirements.

Tammy Besherse, with South Carolina Appleseed, attended most of the hearings. She spoke with the Latin American Herald Tribune and told them she did not recall any discussion of exemptions.

So if you’re hiring a doctor, construction worker or wait staff, make sure you run them through the federal database to see if they are documented. But if you’re hiring a farm worker or a nanny, no worries.Perhaps Ivan Segura, vice president of the Council of Mexicans in the Carolinas, said it best…

“It’s like saying we don’t want undocumented people in South Carolina unless they pick fruit and vegetables and look after our kids.”

A United SC continues to believe in the virtue of welcoming all visitors to our state.

Filed under: Arizona-copycat laws, immigrant community, Migrant Workers, Racism, S.B. 20, South Carolina | 1 Comment »

On the Heels of St. Patrick’s Day, a Reminder…

Posted on March 20, 2012 by scjustice

After a record setting day in 5 points in Columbia, SC, A United SC would like to share a column from the New York Times.

In an excellent piece, Peter Behrens reminds us that the Latino immigrants of today are more like the Irish immigrants of yesterday than different. They face the same discrimination and the same labels. He has a great suggestion for St. Patrick’s day.

“let’s have one day — March 17 — where the word “immigration” is not immediately followed by the word “problem” in our national conversation. Because that has never, ever been our real immigrant story.”

Maybe next year, we can all celebrate together…

Filed under: immigrant community, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Racism | Leave a Comment »

Racism=Ignorance, Part 4,432…

Posted on March 16, 2012 by scjustice

Southern Mississippi may have many things to be proud of, but apparently the US History department isn’t one of them. Students attending the Southern Miss/Kansas State basketball game chanted “Where’s your green card?” at Kansas State’s Angel Rodriguez. That’s dumb every day and twice on Sunday. But even dumber? Mr. Rodriguez is Puerto Rican. Puerto Rico is a US Territory.

Mr. Rodriguez is a natural born US Citizen.

Filed under: Racism | Leave a Comment »

US Court of Appeals Blocks Two More Provisions of Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law

Posted on March 9, 2012 by scjustice

The National Immigration Law Center today announced that their continuing fight in Alabama succeeded in blocking enforcement of two more provisions of Alabama’s state immigration law. A US Court of Appeals ruled that one provision that made it illegal for elected officials to have any contact with undocumented immigrants and another that made contracts with undocumented immigrants unenforceable were unconstitutional.

The National Immigration Law Center and other national and state groups partnered with the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center to successfully challenge South Carolina’s anti-immigration legislation.