Upcountry Coalition of Conservative Organizations To Protest The Hiring of Illegal Aliens By Anderson School District 5

Displaced American Contractors To Speak Out

Members and leaders of the Upcountry Coalition of Conservative Organizations, “The Coalition,” led by consultant Roan Garcia-Quintana and member Margaret Thompson, will hold a press conference in front of the building housing the Anderson District 5 Office Board Room, 400 Pearman Dairy Road, Anderson, SC. The press conference will take place at 6:00 PM, Tuesday March 16, prior to the regular Board of Trustees meeting. Local contractors who have been out of work due to the use of illegal aliens by government entities in Anderson city and county will be present to voice their frustration over the loss of employment opportunities. The Anderson Tea Party Organization, in addition to other liberty organizations, will participate in the protest.

“At a time when Anderson County is experiencing one of the largest unemployment rates in SC, it is inconceivable that School District 5 has hired not only out-of-state contractors, but also contractors that employ illegal aliens. I know that they are illegal because they have told me so,” Roan Garcia-Quintana, executive director of the Americans Have Had Enough Coalition stated. He continued, “We urge the school district to require the necessary documentation from the contractors and subcontractors to establish compliance, as the SC Illegal Immigration Reform Act allows (§ 8-14-40 (b)).”

“The school district is facing budgetary woes due to the federal stimulus money that they received and is no longer available. Allowing illegal aliens to live and work in the district increases the operation costs to school, as these foreign nationals bring their children who don’t speak English, and for whom the school district has to provide English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) instruction.” Garcia-Quintana added. The number of ESOL teachers required in SC increased over 200% between the 2005 and 2006 year according to a SC Department of Education report published a year ago.

“Illegal is Illegal” former city councilwoman Margaret Thompson said. “Here we have an education system that is trying to get by with the minimum application of the immigration law at the expense of the citizens and students of the school district. Illegal Immigration is not cheap. The Heritage Foundation has estimated the cost to our government services for each illegal alien to be $20,000. No one is factoring this into their budgetary equation. This county and its governmental entities have created a sanctuary for illegal aliens,” Ms. Thompson concluded.