Public Benefit Request and Immigration Status

2025-2026 Bill 5270: Public Benefit Request and Immigration Status - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 5270
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Long
Document Path: LC-0303HA26.docx
Introduced in the House on February 26, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Ways and Means
Summary: Public Benefit Request and Immigration Status
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

2/26/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 9
)

2/26/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Ways and Means
(
House Journal-page 9
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
02/26/2026

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION
8-29-10
, RELATING TO APPLICANTS FOR
PUBLIC BENEFITS AND VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL PRESENCE, SO AS TO REQUIRE
VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL PRESENCE IN THE UNITED STATES FOR ALIENS AGED EIGHTEEN
YEARS OR OLDER WHO APPLY FOR GOVERNMENTAL BENEFITS ADMINISTERED BY THIS STATE
UNLESS OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY FEDERAL LAWS, RULES OR REGULATIONS.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
8-29-10
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
8-29-10
.
(
A) Except as provided in
subsection (C) of this section or where exempted by federal law, on or after
July 1, 2008, every agency or political subdivision of this State shall verify
the lawful presence in the United States of any alien eighteen years of age or
older who has applied for state or local public benefits, as defined in 8 U.S.C.
Section 1621, or for federal public benefits, as defined in 8 U.S.C. Section
1611, that are administered by an agency or a political subdivision of this
State.

(
B)
The provisions of this article shall be enforced without regard to race,
religion, gender, ethnicity, or national origin.

(
C)
Verification of lawful presence pursuant to the provisions of this article is
not
required
unless otherwise
prohibited by federal law, ordinance or regulation.

for:

(
1) a purpose for which lawful presence
in the United States is not required by law, ordinance, or regulation;

(
2) assistance for health care items and
services that are necessary for the treatment of an emergency medical
condition, as defined in the Social Security Act (42 USC 1396, et seq.) of the
person involved and are not related to an organ transplant procedure;

(
3) short-term, noncash, in-kind
emergency disaster relief;

(
4) public health assistance for
immunizations with respect to immunizable diseases and for testing and
treatment of symptoms of communicable diseases whether or not such symptoms are
caused by a communicable disease;

(
5) programs, services, or assistance
including soup kitchens, crisis counseling and intervention, and short-term
shelter specified by the United States Attorney General, in the United States
Attorney General's sole discretion after consultation with appropriate federal
agencies and departments, which:

(
a) deliver in-kind services at the
community level, including through public or private nonprofit agencies;

(
b) do not condition the provision of
assistance, the amount of assistance provided, or the cost of assistance
provided on the individual recipient's income or resources; and

(
c) are necessary for the protection of
life or safety;

(
6) prenatal care;

(
7) postsecondary education, whereby the
Department of Education shall set forth, or cause to be set forth, policies
regarding postsecondary benefits that comply with all federal law including,
but not limited to, public benefits as described in 8 USC Section 1611, 1621,
or 1623;

(
8) benefits, programs, services, or any
other assistance provided to victims of domestic violence, irrespective of
their immigration status, under the Violence Against Women Act of 2000, Public
Law Number 106-386, or the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act, Public Law Number 104-208; or

(
9) benefits and refunds lawfully due
from the South Carolina Retirement Systems pursuant to Title 9 of the South
Carolina Code of Laws to members of the Retirement Systems and their
beneficiaries.

(
D)
Verification of lawful presence in the United States by the agency or political
subdivision required to make such verification must occur as follows:

(
1)
the applicant must execute an affidavit that he is a United States citizen or
legal permanent resident eighteen years of age or older; or

(
2)
the applicant must execute an affidavit that he or she is a qualified alien or
nonimmigrant under the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act, Public Law
82-414, eighteen years of age or older, and lawfully present in the United
States.

(
E)
For an applicant who has executed an affidavit that he or she is an alien
lawfully present in the United States, eligibility for benefits shall be made
through the Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlement (SAVE) program
operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security or a successor
program designated by the United States Department of Homeland Security. Until
the eligibility verification is made, the affidavit shall be presumed to be
proof of lawful presence for the purposes of this article.

(
F) A
person who knowingly and wilfully makes a false, fictitious, or fraudulent
statement or representation in an affidavit executed pursuant to this section,
or who aids or abets a person in knowingly and willfully making a false,
fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation in an affidavit executed
pursuant to this section, or who solicits or conspires to make a false,
fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation in an affidavit executed
pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must
be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than five years,
or both. In addition, a person convicted pursuant to this section must disgorge
any benefit received or make restitution, or both, to the agency or political
subdivision of this State that administered the benefit or entitlement program.
It is a separate violation of this section each time a person receives a public
benefit based on such a statement or representation. A conviction and fine charged
pursuant to this section shall not preempt or preclude additional appropriate
civil or criminal charges or penalties. A person who suffers an ascertainable
loss of money or property, real or personal, as a result of the actions of
anyone convicted of a violation of this subsection may bring an action,
individually, or in a representative capacity, to recover actual damages. If
the court finds that a violation has been established, the court shall award
three times the actual damages sustained and may provide such other relief as
it considers necessary and proper. Upon a finding by the court of a violation,
the court shall award to the person bringing the action under this section
reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

(
G)
Persons convicted of a violation of this section are jointly and severally
liable for a loss suffered by a person or an agency or political subdivision of
the State.

(
H) If
an affidavit constitutes a false claim of U.S. citizenship under 18 U.S.C.
Section 911, a complaint must be filed by the agency or political subdivision
with the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina.

(
I) It
is unlawful for an agency or a political subdivision of this State to provide
any state, local, or federal benefit, as defined in 8 U.S.C. Section 1621 or 8
U.S.C. Section 1611, in violation of this section.

(
J)
All errors and significant delays by SAVE or its successor program must be
reported to the United States Department of Homeland Security and to the
Secretary of State which will monitor the state's participation in the SAVE
program and its verification of application errors and significant delays and
report yearly on such errors and significant delays to ensure that the
application of SAVE is not wrongfully denying benefits to legal residents of South
Carolina.

(
K) An
agency or a political subdivision of this State that provides a state, local,
or federal benefit, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1621 or 8 U.S.C. Section 1611, must
require a person currently under the age of eighteen who received the benefit
to comply with the provisions of this article upon reaching the age of
eighteen. If the recipient is unwilling or unable to comply, receipt of all
benefits must cease immediately upon the recipient's eighteenth birthday.

(
L) A
local government may not enact any ordinance or policy that limits or prohibits
a law enforcement officer, local official, or local government employee from
seeking to enforce the provisions of this article.

S
ECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on February 26, 2026 at 11:12 AM