Tougher stance urged on illegal aliens

Women tell how they lost loved ones in crashes

Two women who lost loved ones to illegal aliens driving without licenses begged state senators to pass tougher immigration laws Thursday.

Stephen Rand Rouvet, 21, was killed in a wreck on Ashley Phosphate Road on June 1, 2008. Police said Jesus Magana was driving a borrowed truck with no driver's license. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Rouvet's mother made a passionate plea for tougher laws Thursday at a public hearing in North Charleston City Hall.

"You're witnessing a preventable death by illegal aliens who don't deserve to be in this country," Linda Rouvet told the Senate Judiciary Special Subcommittee on Immigration. "The government's primary job is to protect the people from foreign invasion. ... Please, for God's sake, do something."

The subcommittee is holding hearings around the state to gauge support for a tougher law in South Carolina, such as the one that Arizona passed.

The Arizona law allows police to check the immigration status of people during routine traffic stops if the officer suspects the person is in the country illegally. That provision was put on hold after a judge agreed with opponents that it could lead to unconstitutional racial profiling.

Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, plans to introduce a similar law when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Grooms was at the hearing, along with all the committee members.

The committee consists of Sens. Larry Martin of Pickens, Glenn McConnell of Charleston and Chip Campsen of the Isle of Palms, all Republicans, and Democrat Robert Ford of Charleston.

The Republicans on the committee are backing Grooms' bill. Ford opposes it.

At the hearing, 10 people urged the senators to toughen the immigration laws, while five expressed reservations.

Cindy Bales fought back tears as she told how her husband was killed by an illegal immigrant driving without a license.

Frank Bales, 50, was killed Oct. 15, 2008, when a pickup truck driven by Abel Martinez-Martinez hit Bales' motorcycle on Aviation Avenue. Police said it was the third time Martinez-Martinez had been charged with driving without a license. His bond was set at $474, and he disappeared.

"He was killed by a man who didn't have the right to be in the country," said Bales, accompanied by her 9-year-old son and wearing a blue T-shirt with her late husband's photo on the front.

The Legislature passed an immigration reform law in 2008, but some critics say it's not being enforced consistently and more needs to be done.

"I don't understand some people thinking they somehow don't have to follow the laws that my grandmother did," said Kim Wanke, a second-generation immigrant from Yugoslavia. "So I don't have a lot of sympathy for this immigrant problem. ... The federal government is mandated to protect our space from foreign invasion, and they're not doing that."

Kendra Linkowski said it costs much more to educate and provide other services to illegal immigrants than local municipalities receive from the federal government.

"We are definitely under an invasion and our borders are wide open," she said.

Sherry Irwin said she was "sick of hearing about the poor illegals' feelings" and "we've got to get the bigger picture here."

Those who spoke against Grooms' proposed bill included S.C. American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Victoria Middleton.

"We understand a great many Americans are frustrated with the lack of progress on immigration reform," she said. "We also think it's unfair ... to discriminate based on race and skin color."

Middleton also spoke against proposals to require immigrants to carry their visas at all times.

"That's the tactic of a totalitarian regime, showing your papers," she said.

North Charleston immigration attorney Don Gibson also spoke against the proposed immigration law.

"I've never seen a financial statement on how much money we would lose if we run all these people out of the state," Gibson said, referring to money from the census as well as the labor market. "What are you going to do when construction picks back up with the absent work force?"

He also questioned if the state could pay for more enforcement, especially when the Legislature has been cutting money for education, which is what attracts industries that creates jobs.

"I don't think we can afford it," he said. "You're going to put this state in worse condition financially."

Ford argued that immigration officials have been doing their job, including arresting 400,000 illegal immigrants so far this year. He cited testimony by Charleston County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mitch Lucas that deputies arrested 2,681 people in September, found 211 were born in foreign countries and deported 152 of them.

"I think your testimony proves that we don't need any more legislation," Ford said.

"That was not my intention," Lucas responded.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/oct/08/tougher-stance-urged-on-illegals/