Public safety agency following law as written

It will take time to get a new state immigration enforcement unit trained by federal authorities, maybe more than a year, and that has some lawmakers frustrated.

But the director of the Department of Public Safety is doing exactly what the law requires.

The enforcement provision of the measure does not go into effect until members of the unit have received 287g training. That's explicitly stated in the law.

The training gives state and local law enforcement officers the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is one of four law enforcement agencies in the state to have certified officers.

The new law also states that 287g certification is to be sought as soon as possible after the effective date of the law. The law does not give a specific date for the immigration enforcement unit to be up and running; the date is Jan. 1 for all other sections of the law.

The section creating the Illegal Immigration Enforcement Unit states it takes effect when the unit is funded and when the Public Safety Department is certified under 287g. The General Assembly allocated $1.3 million to establish the unit and pay for distinctive vehicles, badges and uniforms.

Interim Public Safety director Col. F.K. Lancaster Jr. told the Associated Press that his former boss, Mark Keel, sent a letter dated June 30 to Immigration and Customs Enforcement requesting the training. Gov. Nikki Haley signed the bill into law June 27. It's hard to move much faster than that.

As of Jan. 1, law enforcement officers are required to call federal immigration officials -- or the state unit, once it is certified -- if they suspect someone is in the country illegally. The question must follow an arrest or traffic stop for some other reason. Officers cannot hold someone on that suspicion alone.

Also, as of Jan. 1, all businesses must use the federal E-Verify system to check the employment status of job applicants. They can no longer rely on a South Carolina's driver's license or a driver's license from a list of approved states.

The ball is in the federal agency's court, and it shouldn't needlessly delay responding to the request. But given the legal challenges facing this law and similar laws in other states, we don't expect to see ICE officials expedite the request either.

Still, Public Safety officials must follow the law, and that's what they're doing.

This story was originally published August 10, 2011 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Public safety agency following law as written."