COLUMBIA - While continuing to call for a federal solution to the nation’s immigration issues, the president of South Carolina’s largest general farm organization called the immigration law enacted by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, “trouble for family farmers and small businesses.”
South Carolina Farm Bureau President David Winkles said, “What we have is a state law that is different from federal law and could unintentionally cause business owners and farmers to violate federal employment laws. In the legislature’s efforts to throw voters a line to resolve immigration issues, it has instead provided just enough rope so business owners and individuals can hang themselves.”
One example Winkles cited was the section of the new law that allows employers to use a computerized electronic system known as “E—Verify” to verify the legality of new hires. The federal law states that if this process is used to verify legal employees the business owner has 3 days to process the inquiry after the employee has been hired. The new state law is ambiguous as to how long employers have to process their requests through the system. Winkles said, “I can see a case when someone in good faith processes his request for verification under the new state law, only to find out that he has violated federal law.”
Winkles stated he also has concerns about the limited types of verification documents allowed in the new state law, only a state issued driver’s license, ID card, or related documents as opposed to the variety of documents currently allowed on the federal I-9 verification form. “People can readily obtain authentic looking fake driver’s licenses and ID cards,” Winkles said, “it happens all the time. While it narrows the identification choices small businesses and farmers can use when they hire new employees, there is nothing in the new law that assures illegal immigrants will be discovered by checking these documents.”
Winkles’ concerns go beyond the family farmer. “Many of our members are urban or suburban families who support our efforts to keep agriculture locally produced and to preserve rural lifestyles in South Carolina. I’m fearful that this new law puts individuals and families at risk of violating the law. The way I read it,” Winkles said, “anyone who hires an individual, a non-contractor to work for them, whether it’s to routinely cut the grass, help with housekeeping, babysitting, or to do odd jobs around the house, risks hefty State penalties and fines if they employ that person without complying with this new law.”
The South Carolina Farm Bureau, a federation of 47 county chapters, is open for membership to anyone who supports the work of family farmers, domestically grown food, and rural lifestyles. The grassroots organization’s policies are determined each year by nearly 400 farmers who meet, present, and debate issues the organization will lobby lawmakers and regulators for during the next 12 months. In December 2007, Farm Bureau voting delegates issued a clear multi-point policy that includes the beliefs that:
Immigration is a federal issue and should be resolved by Congress
Blanket amnesty shall not be granted to anyone in the US who is here illegally
Illegal workers who do not obtain work permits should be sent back home
U.S. borders must be secured
Fines and penalties for knowingly and willfully hiring illegal aliens should be strictly enforced
The ability to read and speak English must be required of anyone desiring U.S. citizenship
Illegal aliens shall not be entitled to Constitutional guarantees
Immigration laws that are enacted should be enforceable and enforced
Winkles said, “During the course of the debate on state regulations of illegal workers many false accusations have spread about Farm Bureau and its views on immigration reform. Let me make it very clear. The South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation is seeking a federal solution to prevent illegal aliens from working in the United States and people who knowingly and willfully hire them should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of federal laws. If farmers do not see a resolution to this issue soon, Americans will soon notice a tremendous influx in imported food at a premium price from places that do not have the same environmental, health, and safety controls and protections we have in the United States.”
The Farm Bureau president also addressed accusations that migrant workers are displacing American farm laborers in substandard conditions below minimum wage pay. “Entire segments of agriculture have, for the past 10 years or so, participated in a federal guest worker program called H-2A. In addition to paying for quality housing and travel costs, that program requires employers to pay significantly more than minimum wage and it mandates employers must hire US citizens before immigrants are offered jobs.” The problem,” Winkles said, “is that most Americans do not want to do backbreaking work under the hot summer sun to plant and harvest our locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Therefore, we must either import our food or have a way to legally import our labor.”
Winkles said, “Much of agriculture, the hospitality industry, construction, landscaping, and other industries vital to South Carolina’s economy, will be adversely affected if we do not soon see sweeping federal immigration reform.” Winkles cautions people who make future hiring decisions to study the new State immigration law very carefully to avoid breaking state and/or federal laws.