Dispute over 2011 immigration law spills into SC-01 congressional race. Who actually wrote it?

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- A 2011 immigration law is now at the center of South Carolina’s heated First Congressional District race as two Republican candidates spar over who crafted the legislation.

Catherine Templeton, who is running to unseat incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace, has repeatedly touted her strong stance on immigration while on the campaign trail, often citing that she “wrote and enforced what’s been called the ‘toughest immigration bill in the country.’”

Mace claims that’s not the truth. In a series of recent social media posts, Mace has accused Templeton of now trying to take credit for a bill that she didn’t write.

“Unfortunately, Catherine Templeton has never legislated in her life,” Mace told News 2 on Friday. “She’s telling a lie to Lowcountry voters.”

So, what is the bill, and who actually wrote it?

In June 2011, then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed Senate Bill 20 into law aiming to crack down on illegal immigration. The bill requires police to verify the immigration status of any person they stop or arrest if there is reasonable suspicion that they may be in the country illegally.   

The original version of the bill was filed in December 2010 by Sen. Larry Grooms (R-Berkeley).

It was amended by a special Senate judiciary subcommittee headed by former Sen. Larry Martin (R-Pickens) and passed the Senate in March of 2011 – two months after Templeton was confirmed as Director of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Meanwhile, a legal fight was brewing in Arizona over a similar law that required employers to use a federal E-Verify employment verification system and created penalties for those who hired unauthorized workers.

The day after the South Carolina House passed its version of S.20 in May, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the validity of Arizona’s E-Verify program.

Templeton alleges she worked with Haley, the Senate, and law enforcement to draft additional language for E-Verify, sanctuary cities, and an Illegal Immigration Enforcement Unit in the wake of that decision, a claim that is supported in a 2014 law review article written by Sen. Chip Champsen (R-Isle of Palms).

“The next day, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit’s validation of Arizona’s E-Verify and license suspension laws,” Campsen wrote. “State Senator Larry Martin and I, along with South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Director Catherine Templeton, prepared an amendment conforming the bill to that decision.”

The Senate amended the bill and the House eventually agreed to the changes. It was then signed into law as Act 69 in June.

“This enforces the fact that illegal immigration is not welcome in South Carolina,” then-Gov. Haley said during a press conference on June 27, 2011, with both Templeton and Grooms at her side.

The law was set to go into effect on January 1 of the following year but was immediately challenged in court by the U.S. Department of Justice and civil rights groups who sought to block parts of the measure, according to NBC News.

In 2013, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down parts of the bill as unconstitutional. Templeton’s campaign claims it was the portions of the bill that she helped draft that remained in effect, while most of Grooms’ original language was struck down.

Since then, Templeton has characterized her involvement in various ways, sometimes saying she wrote the bill and other times saying she “hand-held” it through the legislative process.

Mace views this as an attempt by Templeton to “backpedal because she’s been caught in a lie” and says credit belongs to Grooms. The Berkeley senator recently endorsed Mace in her reelection campaign.

“She’s never written a bill in her life. You have to be elected to the legislature to draft and file bills and she’s never been elected to public office. The bill’s author is actually State Senator Larry Grooms,” Mace said Friday.

Grooms told News 2 this week that he authored the bill and did not directly work with Templeton during the legislative process.

“I’m not trying to take anything away from Catherine Templeton but as the author of the bill, I never had conversations with her about any part of the bill,” Grooms said.

He added that while Templeton was responsible for enforcing the bill, he does not credit her with drafting it.

Templeton, meanwhile, has staunchly defended her role in crafting the legislation, accusing Mace’s campaign of lying about her immigration record.

“Nancy Mace wasn’t even there and no matter how loud she gets or how much she doesn’t like the truth, my record on immigration is rock solid and hers isn’t,” Templeton said in a video statement to News 2.

Despite South Carolina being thousands of miles from the U.S. southern border, immigration has emerged as a top issue for Republican voters. An exit poll of voters in South Carolina’s GOP presidential primary contest found that roughly one-third said immigration mattered most when determining their vote, according to Reuters.

Mace, Templeton, and Bill Young will face off in the GOP primary on June 11, 2024.