South Carolina Immigration Enforcement and Public Benefits Integrity Act - State Bills

Summary

This bill would push South Carolina police and agencies to cooperate more closely with federal immigration enforcement, allow sentence enhancements for certain felonies committed by people unlawfully present where legally provable, and require lawful-presence verification for most state-funded public benefits while preserving emergency care, K-12 education, and other legally protected services.

Full text

A Bill to require state and local law enforcement agencies in South Carolina to cooperate with federal immigration authorities to the fullest extent permitted by law, including compliance with immigration detainer requests for persons lawfully arrested for serious criminal offenses; to provide sentence enhancements, consistent with constitutional protections and upon proof of unlawful presence where required by law, for specified felony offenses committed by individuals not lawfully present in the United States; to prohibit the use of state-funded public benefits, except where barred by federal law or necessary for emergency medical care, K-12 education, or other legally protected services, by persons unable to verify lawful presence; and to direct relevant state agencies to establish uniform verification and reporting procedures for implementation.