Summary of major provisions: South Carolina’s Senate Bill 20 forces all South Carolinians to carry specific forms of identification at all times in order to demonstrate their lawful immigration status or risk extended detention. It creates a “show me your papers” police state in an unconstitutional, confused attempt to take over the federal government’s enforcement of immigration law. Under the bill, when a law enforcement officer stops an individual for a perceived crime, the officer must attempt to determine a person’s immigration status if the officer develops a “reasonable suspicion” that the person stopped is unlawfully present in the United States. However, the bill’s vague provisions leave ample room for racial profiling. Officers will no doubt rely on unconstitutional factors such as race, ethnicity, national origin, and English-speaking ability to develop “reasonable suspicion” of unlawful presence.
Separately, the bill prohibits limiting in any way officers’ enforcement of immigration law. As a result, police departments will no longer be able to determine how best to ensure the safety of their communities. Localities will have no choice but to invest their time and resources in enforcing federal immigration laws. In addition, the bill creates a series of state-based immigration crimes which will subject even lawful immigrants to felony or misdemeanor convictions. For example, immigrants lawfully present under asylum, as well as victims of human trafficking, will face felony convictions for self-smuggling (i.e. allowing themselves to be transported into the country). But these are only a few examples of how South Carolina’s bill will give state law enforcement officers and employees license to intimidate, target, and punish immigrants and people of color.