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Haley: Feds interfering with illegal immigrant employment checks
Posted: 05.27.2011 at 11:50 AM
Updated: 05.27.2011 at 1:10 PM
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Haley at State House Friday.  / Janet Parker
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COLUMBIA (WACH, AP) -- South Carolina officials say federal rules on employment verification records have idled the state's illegal immigration inspectors for a month and now their jobs could be eliminated.

Gov. Nikki Haley and the state's top labor official said Friday the state might have to lay off two dozen inspectors because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security won't let employers share electronic employment verification information.

That position may be changing because the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an Arizona law that penalizes businesses for hiring workers in the country illegally. Arizona and South Carolina both rely on the federal E-Verify system to check that workers aren't illegal immigrants.

“This is a state that takes illegal immigration very seriouslyHaley said.  "The problem is when the federal government continues to step in and tell us we can’t do our job.  They are stopping us every step of the way.  On the one side [the Obama Administration] says they are doing everything they can to fight illegal immigration, on the other side the people they are fighting are the states.  They’re not allowing us to enforce our law.”

Gov. Haley is sending a letter to Secretary Janet Napolitano about the new law. It reads in part:

Related Stories:
Supreme Court sides with Arizona on hiring illegal immigrants 
S.C. House passes illegal immigration bill 
SC legislators OK anti-illegal immigration bill 

"I trust you are aware that I have reached out to you multiple times in recent weeks to discuss an important issue in South Carolina that requires the prompt attention of the Department of Homeland Security. While I understand from your office that you have a busy travel schedule, I am disappointed that you have not responded to my calls so that we can resolve a recent and serious obstacle that your agency has created denying our state the ability to access E-Verify documentation which effectively prevents our state from enforcing our immigration laws."

Read the entire letter here. 

What do you think about the status of E-Verify in South Carolina?

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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