By CHRIS TRAINOR

Republican gubernatorial candidate and Third District U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett made a campaign proposal Tuesday to expand an immigration and customs enforcement initiative that would equip local law enforcement with the training and authority to tackle illegal immigration in all South Carolina’s counties.

Barrett, who is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Immigration Caucus, is proposing a statewide expansion of Immigration, Customs and Enforcement’s 287(g) program.

“287(g) is a program that authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, and it permits the designated officers who have been through that training to conduct immigration law enforcement,” Barrett said. “Part of the problem is that we have laws on the books, but we don’t have enough people to enforce it.

“This would give ICE additional agents in the field that are trained and would know how to enforce these immigration laws.”

Information from the Pew Research Center indicates as many as 85,000 illegal immigrants currently live in the Palmetto State. As of 2008, illegal immigrants had as many as 50,000 jobs in the state.

On a local level, state Rep. Mike Pitts said he is in support of Barrett’s proposal.

“I am fed up with the federal government and its failure to address this critical issue,” Pitts said. “Illegal immigration affects every aspect of our lives – from our hospitals to our schools to our jobs. Gresham is right. If we are going to solve this problem, then we are going to have to do it at the local level, and his plan to expand 287(g) to every county in our state is the answer we’ve been looking for.”

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