In 2011, our legislature passed the South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act. It made it a felony offense to be in our state illegally. The penalty was up to five years in prison. The General Assembly sent a clear message at the time that South Carolina would enforce the law and protect its citizens.

The Obama Administration immediately challenged it. Washington stepped in and sued our state. Eventually, portions of the law were struck down in federal court. We were told that immigration enforcement was the exclusive domain of the federal government and that South Carolina could not go further than Washington allowed.

Last year in Lancaster County, Larisha Sharell Thompson, a mother of two, was shot and killed during a robbery allegedly carried out by six illegal immigrants. Six individuals who should not have been in this country were on our streets, and a young mother paid the price.

The allegations in that case describe a crime that shocks the conscience. Two children are growing up without their mother because violent men who were not lawfully present in this country were free to commit another crime.

If the 2011 Illegal Immigration Reform Act had not been struck down, there is a strong possibility that this tragedy never would have happened. The alleged gunman had previously been arrested for domestic violence. Under a valid state immigration felony statute, he could have been detained and prosecuted on that charge alone. He would not have been out on the street in Lancaster.

We cannot change what happened to Larisha Thompson. But we can decide whether we are willing to learn from it.

The legal landscape today is different than it was in 2011. Courts analyze state immigration laws in light of federal enforcement priorities. When the federal executive branch makes enforcement a priority, state laws that work in cooperation with that policy are on much firmer constitutional footing.

President Trump has made border enforcement a national priority. After four years of open-border policies that strained our communities and overwhelmed our systems, there is now a renewed commitment at the federal level to enforce the law. A modernized Illegal Immigration Reform Act, carefully drafted to align with federal enforcement policy, would stand on far stronger ground than it did under the previous administration.

South Carolina should act.

This is about protecting families in Lancaster, Charleston, Greenville, and every other county in this state. It is about making sure that people who are here illegally and who commit crimes are not simply cycled back onto our streets.

We do not need another tragedy before we find the courage to enforce our own laws. The General Assembly should revisit and pass a new Illegal Immigration Reform Act that works hand in hand with federal enforcement and makes it clear that South Carolina will not tolerate violent crime committed by those who are here unlawfully.

If we have the ability to prevent another mother from being taken from her children, then we have a duty to use it.