The South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center (SCALJC) is a left-of-center advocacy organization that advocates for policies including Obamacare, LGBT adoption,¹ and illegal immigration. ² South Carolina Appleseed joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a federal lawsuit against the state of South Carolina to abolish a law that allowed police to verify citizen status during traffic stops. ³

In April of 2019, SCALJC and other left-of-center groups published an open letter that condemned President Donald Trump administration’s immigration policies. The letter listed nearly 30 Trump administrators and directed American CEOs to never hire any of them in any capacity. ⁴

Government-Run Healthcare

The SCALJC blog, titled South Carolina Healthcare Voices, was created to drive attention for the need of Obamacare. ⁵ The blog advocates for taxpayer-provided government-run healthcare for South Carolina residents. ⁶

Sue Berkowitz, president of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, said the Republican-led Senate’s alternative to Obamacare would kill people. SCALJC claimed the bill funds tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, will make “draconian” cuts on Medicaid, most likely eliminate children’s services, and allowed for discrimination. ⁷

Berkowitz opposed a federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) policy requiring able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients to be employed for 80 hours a month, or to be actively seeking employment, or volunteering, or receiving an education, condemning it as draconian. She argued that it would harm children. SCALJC published a study stating 14,000 parents would lose health care. ⁸

Religious Adoption Services

South Carolina Appleseed and Sue Berkowitz opposed a state law that protected religious adoption agencies (such as Catholic Charities) from being required to offer services to same-sex couples. Berkowitz viewed the law as discriminatory towards LGBT couples and alleged that it reduced the quantity of safe adoption homes for foster children. ⁹

Immigration

SCALJC supports illegal immigrants and a liberal expansionist immigration policy. Sue Berkowitz described the goal of the Trump administration’s immigration policy goal as to “dehumanize and demonize vulnerable children.” She alleged that President Trump and Republican members of Congress were seeking to distract people from their violence and ignite further assaults towards Mexican immigrants. ¹⁰

The center has accepted donations from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative,  the philanthropic enterprise of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. ¹¹ Zuckerberg has advocated for liberal expansionist immigration policies. ¹²

Berkowitz disputed a proposed policy by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to prioritize 100,000 disadvantaged American citizens before illegal immigrants in public assistance housing. ¹³

The center markets to illegal aliens a guide titled ICE Raid Preparedness featuring offering assistance to illegal immigrants, including guides to legal rights, information on how to prepare for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, and instructional videos in Spanish for dealing with ICE officers. ¹⁴

1. “The Religious Liberty Amendment Congress Is Considering.” In Federal Funding Talks,. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-religious-liberty-congress-states-foster-care.html.
2. Weinger, Mackenzie. “ACLU Sues on S.C. Immigration Law.” POLITICO. October 12, 2011. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2011/10/aclu-sues-on-sc-immigration-law-065797.
3. Weinger, Mackenzie. “ACLU Sues on S.C. Immigration Law.” POLITICO. October 12, 2011. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2011/10/aclu-sues-on-sc-immigration-law-065797.
4. “Open Letter Corporate America.” April 06, 2019. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://restorepublictrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190406-RPT-OpenLetterCorporateAmerica-FINAL-1.pdf.
5. “About SCHCV.” South Carolina Appleseed. Accessed June 28, 2019. http://www.schealthcarevoices.org/about/.
6. “About SCHCV.” South Carolina Appleseed. Accessed June 28, 2019. http://www.schealthcarevoices.org/about/.
7. “How the Senate Heath Care Bill Will Hurt South Carolina.” South Carolina Appleseed. Accessed June 28, 2019. http://www.schealthcarevoices.org/2017/06/23/the-senate-heath-care-bill-will-hurt-south-carolina/.
8. “SCDHHS’s Waiver Request: The Good and The Bad.” SC Appleseed. June 28, 2019. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.scjustice.org/scdhhss-waiver-request-the-good-and-the-bad/.
9. “The Religious Liberty Amendment Congress Is Considering.” In Federal Funding Talks. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-religious-liberty-congress-states-foster-care.html.
10. “Statement: Trump Again Resorts to Division and Distraction, Instead of Offering Unity and Real Solutions.” SC Appleseed. November 02, 2018. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.scjustice.org/statement-trump-again-resorts-to-division-and-distraction-instead-of-offering-unity-and-real-solutions/.
11. “Grants.” Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://chanzuckerberg.com/grants-ventures/grants/.
12. Lui, Kevin. “Mark Zuckerberg Shows Support for DACA in Facebook Note.” Fortune. September 01, 2017. Accessed July 08, 2019. https://fortune.com/2017/09/01/mark-zuckerberg-daca-dreamers-immigration-facebook/.
13. Dinan, Stephen. “HUD Moves to Cancel Illegal Immigrants’ Public Housing Access.” The Washington Times. April 17, 2019. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/17/hud-moves-cancel-illegal-immigrants-public-housing/.
14. “ICE Raid Resources.” Google Docs. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tnttyb5GvowqJwOf8BD2KyysuTqBB_Guoyw7Juxy9gg/edit?fbclid=IwAR2VbgMU1YKMHySMov2qhVHIajJb1FjnKWT-3O9mGxPRsRfXae3XfiIXY9U.