South Carolina: Business Owners Must Use E-Verify or Risk Losing their Business Licenses

The South Carolina House of Representatives voted their agreement yesterday to the illegal immigration act already approved by the Senate. Republican Governor Nikki Haley is expected to sign the bill within the next few days.

All state businesses will now be required to check legal status of their workers on the online e-verify system. Any business owner who hires illegal workers will have his business license revoked. As explained by Harriet McLeod in a Reuters article, “The measure creates a grace period of one year for employers, during which penalties will be probationary. After that, employers can face temporary suspension of their business license for hiring illegal immigrants and reinstatement fees after those workers have been fired. On third offense, an employer's business license can be revoked.”

Included in the bill is the creation of a new Illegal Immigration Enforcement Unit to contend with illegal resident issues. $1.3 million of the 2011-2012 budget was allocated for this unit.

The state will set up free computer stations for business owners who don’t have internet access to check immigration status of their workers.

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