Federal Debate May be on Hold Until After Presidential Election, but it's Heating Up in South Carolina
While most immigration advocates have given up on any chance at reform until after the 2008 elections, the anti-immigrant debate in South Carolina is heating up. On October 22 a meeting was held in North Charleston, SC to allow South Carolinians the opportunity to voice their opinions directly to legislators - and voice they did. The debate, which was intended to focus in legislation currently in the South Carolina Legislature, was hotly divided as the opinions of the masses were voiced. The Post and Courier reported that the meeting was standing room only and the very vocal crowd vacillated between bouts of applause and shouts of disapproval. Despite the intentions of the Legislature and the variety of opinions noted both in the meeting and across the state, it remains to be seen whether the proposed legislation would even pass Constitutional muster. Indeed, the Federal Courts recently reinforced almost 150 years of Supreme Court rulings on this matter in the Hazelton, Pennsylvania decision. Hazelton, PA represents the modern day continuation of a long line of immigration cases including: U.S. v. Holliday, Henderson v. State of NY, the "Passenger Cases" and the "Head Money" case, all of which confirm that states have no right to regulate immigration. As such it will be interesting to see if the S.C. legislature even bothers with the proposed legislation as it would appear to run afoul of the Hazelton decision.
