Immigration Law

BEING HISPANIC IN SOUTH CAROLINA

By Greg Siskind

On my annual vacation this year, I took the family to Hilton Head, South Carolina and to a few other spots around the region. I was impressed with how international the community is (not to mention how great the beaches are).

But South Carolina seems to be becoming a hot bed for immigration politics. While you see the typical anti-immigration sentiments popping up in the media, I have seen a few stories in the mainstream media that really make me wonder whether there is something more worrisome happening in the Palmetto State.

Take this story from the Greenville News:

An Upstate senator said Wednesday he wants the state Department of Transportation to investigate the immigration status of employees for the agency's contractors, following complaints from constituents.

State Sen. Larry Martin of Pickens said some constituents have complained that a company which does work for DOT employs all Hispanic workers.

"I'm going to vigorously insist that all of these contractors with the state DOT be required to follow the law and some type of audit be done, particularly when it appears that a large Hispanic work force is involved," Martin said.

Now substitute the word "African American", "Jewish", "Italian" or you name it for "Hispanic" and see how it sounds. Get the picture.

News flash, Senator Martin - Most of the 45,000,000 Hispanics in America are either US citizens or lawful permanent residents of the US. To assume that a person is illegal simply because they are Hispanic is bigotry, plain and simple.

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on August 05, 2008 (boomark / email).