Wes Hickman (202) 224-5972 or Kevin Bishop (864) 250-1417

New York Times Editorial says Graham Amendment Creates ‘Gitmos Across America’ to Hold Illegal Immigrants

“One of the worst amendments comes from Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. It would impose mandatory detention of all people who overstay their visas.  …The cells would be full of people who shouldn’t be there: asylum seekers, the elderly, pregnant women, the sick and those ensnared in paperwork mistakes. Children, like the kindergartners in inmate scrubs walking the halls of a federal detention center outside Austin, Tex. Day laborers, like those in suburban Brewster, N.Y., whose arrests were hailed by a mayor who spoke proudly of his community’s “zero tolerance” for people unlawfully playing soccer in a schoolyard.  The country already detains some 230,000 immigrants a year, at an annual cost of $1.2 billion. Under the current immigration bill, it would build tens of thousands more beds to hold detainees. And it would need many more — Guantánamo Bays across America — if Mr. Graham’s zero-tolerance vision is fully realized.” 

Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Supports Immigration Reform

“Immigration reform is a federal issue and we support efforts to achieve a national solution to this challenge to support a uniform approach.  We oppose any local approach to regulating immigration on the basis that regulation must be consistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  We need immigration laws that are fair and balanced.  These laws must meet the needs of our growing economy and the test of common sense.  Only through this kind of comprehensive approach can an effective solution be reached.  Securing the national borders is important, but it cannot be accomplished in isolation.”

Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Supports Immigration Reform

“The current system is clearly broken and we believe the status quo is unacceptable.  Municipalities and counties throughout South Carolina, as well as our state government, are reacting to a lack of action at the federal level with a patchwork of immigration laws and enforcement.  We fear that local mandates and piecemeal approaches will be unnecessarily costly and expose law-abiding employers to unfair liability.  This would ultimately undermine our economic strength and negatively impact our station and our nation.”

Charleston Post & Courier Editorial ‘Revive Immigration Reform’

“The Senate shouldn't heed ill-informed foes of the immigration bill, but rather the general public's agreement on realistic reform. The bill's foes should abandon legislative obstructionism and offer practical counter-proposals.  Otherwise, we'll again be stuck with the illegal-immigration status quo, a de facto "amnesty.”

Washington Times ‘Labor Groups, Hispanics hit Senate bill’

“Labor and Hispanic groups yesterday told senators to scrap their immigration bill and go back to the drawing board, saying that the proposal now before the Senate has become too harsh on illegal aliens and a poor deal for U.S. workers.”

Washington Times Says New Study Shows Senate Bill Breaking Chain Migration

 “…a new evaluation released by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) yesterday found that the Senate bill would reduce family-based immigration from about two-thirds of current permanent visas to less than half. Employment-based visas would go from less than one-fifth to about two-fifths.  The MPI evaluation said the new point system called for in the bill would also shift the profile of new legal immigrants away from Latin American and Caribbean countries and toward Asian countries, particularly India, China and the Philippines, where recent immigrants have had better English skills and higher educational attainment.”

Fox News Channel Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday

“What strikes me about this argument that's made by the opponents of the bill is that they can't really dispute that there's a lot of good stuff in here and strong stuff on border enforcement.  And what they say, when you cite that to them, is they say, "Well, we don't believe them," which is the point Charles [Krauthammer] is making. "We don't believe it."  On the other hand, I wonder if you put the question to them, if this was only border enforcement stuff, would you be for passing that and spending $4.4 billion, and how many more billions of dollars that it might cost to do it -- I assume the answer would be yes, to which my question would be, "Well, why would you be for that if you don't believe it?"

U.S. Chamber Of Commerce, National Restaurant Association, Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), And National Federation Of Independent Business (NFIB)

"As trade associations representing the full spectrum of the American economy, we applaud the hard work of a bipartisan team of senators and the Administration for their role in crafting S.1348. We realize that many difficult issues will remain, but it is critical that the process moves forward.”

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman on the Immigration Bill

“Farmers need a comprehensive immigration reform bill approved this Congress. ... We have been pushing for a solution for years and we simply cannot wait any longer for Congress to address this issue.”