GOP race gets nasty with claims of illegal workers, trespassing

COLUMBIA – Tom Davis is a real estate lawyer, recent gubernatorial chief of staff and likely state Senate candidate who seems to know what he's doing on the public stage. Among his practices: Verify the men painting your Beaufort house are in the country legally.

Because when you're taking on an incumbent who's hired a no-holds-barred political operative to run her campaign, you just can't be too careful.

So that's what Davis did. In fact, the rental property owner says he routinely follows a checklist with contractors, making sure they're insured and licensed and that workers have proper documents, such as copies of a work crew's immigrant ID cards.

"I had that locked together," Davis said this week as he provided The Associated Press with the documents a day after the campaign of Republican Sen. Catherine Ceips accused Davis of hiring illegal immigrants.

Now, a contest that has yet to emerge from the starting gate finds itself saddled with accusations of illegal hiring, criminal trespass and political dirty tricks.

Davis last week ended a second stint as Gov. Mark Sanford's top adviser and moved back to Beaufort to prepare for the June 10 primary. He's one of what's expected to be a smattering of candidates who will go up against incumbent Republicans as Sanford looks to salt the state Legislature with allies that are now hard for him to find.

Ceips' campaign isn't taking the prospect of a primary contest lightly. The first-term incumbent from the coast hired Rod Shealy, a Lexington political consultant known for getting dirt under his fingernails.

On Sunday, Shealy sent The Associated Press pictures and what he called proof that illegal immigrants had worked over the weekend at Davis' Beaufort residence. He said he got the information from Bill Somers, who lives in the neighborhood, and Ceips supporter Randy Bates, who said he regularly drives by the historic district house on his way home.

Somers, a painting contractor who lives about three blocks away, said he suspected the work was being done by illegal immigrants because it was being done on the weekend. "They try do as much work when the town is closed down and there aren't as many inspectors around," Somers said.

Bates claims he and a translator knocked on the door and began asking questions and taking pictures. One man said he was from Honduras and in the country illegally, Bates alleged. He photographed the man and sent the shots to Shealy.

"Every indication is that there was in fact an illegal immigrant subcontractor doing work," Shealy said.

It's little surprise that illegal immigration would be the focus of a political attack and such a swift defense in South Carolina. In exit polls taken during January's presidential primary, Republican voters ranked illegal immigration as their second-most important issue behind the economy; just over half said illegal immigrants should be deported.

Meanwhile, the state House and Senate have passed different bills calling for employers to verify the legal status of the people they hire. Last week, Sanford called on legislators to work out their differences and send him a bill forcing all employers to use a federal database to check immigration status and not rely solely on the documents workers submit.

Davis, who regularly lobbied legislators on Sanford's top issues, said he went "above and beyond the minimum things that this legislation talks about doing" when it came to painting the inside of the house he'd rented out for years.

Davis provided the AP with copies of permanent resident cards issued to three workers, but none resembled the man in Bates' photograph.

"I have never seen that guy before in my life. He is not one of the guys I've seen painting in the house," Davis said in an e-mail after looking at the picture. Davis said his contractor also didn't recognize the man.

Beaufort County requires employers to fill out a form saying they don't knowingly employ undocumented workers. If that's inaccurate, the employer faces perjury penalties.

By Monday, Davis was accusing Ceips' supporters of breaking the law by breaking into his house to harass Spanish-speaking workers who were properly documented. Davis, who said he plans to file as a candidate for the Senate seat before Sunday's deadline, said he would file a police incident report alleging trespassing. "This is beyond the pale," he said.

"They broke into my home with cameras," Davis said.

"I don't mind vigorously debating the issues, but they broke the law."

Bates said the workers invited him and the translator inside. "Nobody broke in," he said. "There was no yelling and screaming at anybody."

Ceips, meanwhile, said Monday she has called Immigration and Customs Enforcement "sort of asking what I should do. It may be an ongoing case or investigation so I think it's best right now that I just don't get into it any more than that."

Not everything was properly documented. Davis said his contractor was licensed with the state and county. But the contractor did not get a required temporary city business permit, said Robin Davis, the city's business license administrator. That license was issued Monday, after Tom Davis was interviewed by the AP.