CHARLESTON, S.C. - Illegal immigrants would spend five years in prison and lose their cash and cars under legislation a Charleston lawmaker is pushing.

"My message is South Carolina is not going to be a haven for illegal aliens. Go visit and live in some other state," said Rep. John Graham Altman, a Charleston Republican.

Mr. Altman's legislation is the latest from legislators around the nation who want tougher laws against illegal immigration.

Legislators in 21 states this year introduced more than 80 bills targeting illegal immigrants and their access to public services, including education and health care; let local police make immigration arrests or force government service agencies to report illegal immigrants.

Immigrant advocates say the bills unfairly target illegal immigrants while ignoring the businesses that hire them. They say the legislation, much of which is stalled in committees, shows growing antagonism and hostility against immigrants, particularly Hispanics.

In South Carolina alone, legislators have proposed:

- Barring illegal immigrants from receiving workers' compensation benefits.

- Forcing employers to cover medical costs for illegal immigrants hurt while working for them.

- Preventing hospitals from being reimbursed with state money for non-emergency care.

- Letting police make federal immigration law arrests

- Requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote or seeking help from public assistance programs

- Stopping the state Depart-ment of Motor Vehicles from issuing any type of identification card to illegal immigrants.

Mr. Altman's felony trespass legislation is one of the toughest introduced in the nation. But he said it is what is needed to deal with illegal immigration.

"If they were an invading army with guns and bayonets, the federal government would do something about it," he said. "This is an invading army. The guns and bayonets are not visible."

Charleston Southern Univer-sity economist Al Parish says illegal immigrants now are the backbone of the construction industry and landscaping business in the state.

Without them, he said, costs would go up significantly.

They are "doing a lot of the work people otherwise don't want to do," he said. "They are filling a legitimate need."

"We could do without these illegal immigrants if we bite the bullet and put our own people to work," said Rep. Lanny Littlejohn, R-Pacolet. He is a co-sponsor of several of the bills and says illegal immigrants cost the state millions and are the biggest problem facing South Carolina.

"We don't need illegal immigrant workers in South Carolina and America. If they are illegal, they don't belong here. They need a one-way ticket home," he said.

"We have to start somewhere," said Rep. Jeff Duncan, a Laurens Republican. "We subsidize enough welfare handouts in this country as is. I don't think we ought to provide those for illegal aliens. These people should not be here and didn't go through legal channels to get here."

David M. Reimers is a professor emeritus at New York University and the author of the book Unwelcome Strangers: American Identity and the Turn Against Immigration.

He said immigration is a federal matter but states have a lot of power to regulate issues, such as driver's licenses and workers' compensation.

"I don't see any simple solutions," he said. "This controversy is going to go on and on and on."

Opportunity remains the fuel.

Rolando, who did not want The Post and Courier of Charleston to use his last name, said he came into the country 11 months ago after paying $1,300 for help crossing the border illegally and making it across the Arizona desert. The 19-year-old painter lives with family and friends in North Charleston and waits in a parking lot in the mornings for work as a day laborer.

"I can make more money in a day here than I can in a week in Mexico," he said in Spanish. "In Mexico, there's not much work. It's poor."