State of South Carolina Archives: on Immigration
Alvin Greene:
Pathway to citizenship, with official English
Q: Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants? A: Yes.
Q: Do you support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country?
A: No.
Q:
Do you support establishing English as the official national language?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
A: Yes.
Q:
Source: S.C. Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test
Oct 1, 2010
Amy Klobuchar:
Let foreign medical students stay as rural doctors
I don't want agree with some of my colleagues here about putting hard-earned taxpayer money into rich kids going to college. What I think we need to do instead is look at what our needs are in our economy.We're going to have a million openings for
home health care workers, particularly in rural areas, that we don't know how to fill. We're going to have over 100,000 openings for nursing assistants. We're not going to have a shortage of sports marketing degrees.
We're going to have a shortage of plumbers and nurses.
So putting incentives in place with how we do loan payback, making one- and two-year degrees free, and then of course creating loan payback programs if people will go, especially medical
students, into rural areas.
I have passed the bill that allows doctors from other countries that study in our medical schools to stay and serve in rural areas. We need to expand that.
Source: 10th Democratic Primary debate on eve of S.C. primary
Feb 25, 2020
Henry McMaster:
Deployed National Guard to defend border & protect state
On his first day in office, President Biden canceled the immigration policies established by President Trump, and halted construction of the border wall, thus surrendering our own nation's sovereignty and security to millions of illegal
and undocumented immigrants. The resulting lawlessness and chaos required us to deploy troops from the South Carolina National Guard to defend the border, and to protect our state and others from the danger posed by the cartels and traffickers.
Source: 2022 State of the State Address to the S.C. legislature
Jan 19, 2022
Joyce Dickerson:
Supports comprehensive immigration reform
Joyce will push for comprehensive immigration reform that will not discriminate
against the nation's growing Hispanic and other immigrant populations.
Source: 2014 S.C. Senate campaign website JoyceDickersonSC.com
May 15, 2014
Lee Bright:
Make permanent the E-Verify program
SB 428 [asks] the Congress of the United States to make permanent the E-Verify program, an electronic employment eligibility verification system- Whereas, E-Verify is currently a voluntary Internet-based pilot program used to assist employers in
verifying the work authorization of new hires
- Whereas, as of 2009, over 100,000 employers have registered with E-Verify; and
- Whereas, many states, including South Carolina, have relied to their detriment on the continued availability of
E-Verify in establishing state level programs to combat illegal immigration.
- Be it resolved: That the members of the General Assembly request that the United States Congress take immediate action to make the
E-Verify Program permanent and provide the funding and resources necessary to ensure its continued effectiveness.
Legislative record:Bill died in chamber; Sen. Lee Bright sponsored resolution.
Source: NCSL Immigration Report: 2009 S.C. voting records: SB 428
Apr 22, 2009
Ralph Norman:
Build the wall to protect our sovereignty
Ralph's Plan: Build the wall. America is an exceptional nation. We need to act like that. In order to protect our sovereignty we should enforce our laws.
Not only will this simple outlook safeguard our citizens, it will also ensure that our economic security is preserved.
Source: 2017 S.C. House campaign website, ElectRalphNorman.com
May 16, 2017
Thomas Ravenel:
Finding bad guys among 11M illegals is needles in a haystack
Another problem with our current policy (or lack thereof) is it makes it harder to find terrorists and other dangerous criminals. When you're looking for the bad guys,
you're looking for needles in a haystack. Having over 11 million undocumented workers creates millions of forged documents, which provide cover for the bad guys.
Source: 2014 S.C. Senate campaign website, RavenelForSenate.com
Sep 1, 2014
Tommy Pope:
Build the border wall, and cut off sanctuary cities
Tommy Pope agrees with President Trump that we should A) build a wall along the Southern border, B) stop the flow of immigration into America from countries that harbor terrorists and institute "extreme vetting" on refugees, and
C) cut off federal funding from so-called "sanctuary cities" that refuse to enforce our immigration laws.
Source: 2017 S.C. House campaign website, PopeForCongress.com
May 16, 2017
Page last updated: Feb 07, 2026