COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A South Carolina House panel will begin work on a bill that would require law enforcement officers to try to check a person's immigration status after they're stopped or arrested.
A House subcommittee will debate Thursday the measure that the Senate passed last month.
The bill says someone with a valid driver's license, military ID or passport would be presumed a legal resident. If officers suspect someone is in the country illegally, they would have to call Immigrations and Custom Enforcement. But a person could not be held on that suspicion.
The measure would also make it a felony to sell or produce fake IDs for illegal immigrants. It would tack a fee onto non-business, out-of-country wire transfers. And it creates a new unit to enforce illegal immigration law.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWACH