South Carolina H 5270: Public Benefit Request and Immigration Status

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5270 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 26, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5270

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

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.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

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

 Section 
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 frau