5/23 – Huffington Post – Immigration Legislation Fizzles On State Level

Immigration Legislation Fizzles On State Level.

LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ   05/23/11 01:54 PM ET  

MIAMI — Nearly every state in the union tried to tackle immigration on its own this year in the absence of any congressional movement on the matter, and more than half considered Arizona-style enforcement measures, up from just six in 2010.

But an Associated Press review found that in legislature after legislature, nearly all the most punitive measures failed.

What had passed as of Monday mostly reinforced current federal law, though a small number of states actually passed legislation that was helpful to illegal immigrants.

Many measures were set aside so lawmakers could focus on pressing budget crises, but immigrants have also developed more sophisticated lobbying efforts, and business owners came out strongly against tougher sanctions. Some worried about losing sources of labor and gaining extra paperwork. Others feared tourism boycotts like the one organized against Arizona.

Early in the year, high unemployment, a slew of newly Republican-dominated legislatures and nationwide frustration over the failure by the White House or Congress to address the problem suggested Arizona’s law would be copied.

That law makes it a state crime for an illegal immigrant to work, penalizes employers who hire them and encourages local authorities to turn over illegal immigrants to federal authorities, among other measures. An appellate court has blocked provisions that require immigrants carry visa documents and allow police broad leeway to question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally.

Louisiana State Rep. Joe Harrison, a Republican, said federal inaction prompted his interest in state laws on immigration.

“I’m just trying to give them a little Taser move in the right direction,” he said.

But Harrison’s bill has yet to move out of committee, and most of the others failed, as did most of the proposals requiring businesses to use the federal government’s electronic E-verify system to check the eligibility of new hires. Only a few states made any serious attempt to crack down on employers.

So far, only Georgia and Utah have passed comprehensive bills. South Carolina and Alabama are still considering them. Utah’s law includes a provision to allow illegal immigrants to work in the state, and the American Civil Liberties Union has already sued Utah over the law’s enforcement provisions.

Georgia was the shining example for those hoping to step up enforcement and the closest to Arizona. Its new law allows local officers to check the immigration status of a suspect who can’t produce an accepted form of ID. It also includes a provision requiring employers with more than 10 employees to use E-Verify by July 2013, similar to a 2007 law Arizona. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed the bill earlier this month and opponents say they plan to sue the state.

Following the failure of the recent Dream Act in Washington – which would have provided a path to legalization for qualified illegal immigrant students and other young adults – several states adopted legislation this session that helps illegal immigrant students. Maryland approved in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants, Illinois is likely to set up a private scholarship fund for them, and Connecticut expanded in-state tuition for graduate school. An in-state tuition bill in Oregon passed the Senate but has yet to reach the House floor.

Arizona lawmakers ordered school districts to report students’ residency, but that was geared toward keeping children who live across the Mexican border from enrolling in Arizona schools.

Only Indiana passed a law to prohibit in-state tuition for those in the country illegally, a largely symbolic move.

Most legislation never gets out of committee, and compromise is always key.

But experts on both sides credit businesses for much of the legislations’ failure.

“Business owners came out of the woodwork in a way they hadn’t done before,” said Tamar Jacoby, president of ImmigrationWorks USA, a national federation of mostly small-business owners who support immigration reform.

Many Florida businesses said they feared the economic damage that would be caused if the state were hit by a tourism boycott like the one immigrant rights groups organized against Arizona.

In Arizona, 60 top executives signed a letter to Arizona’s Senate president, asking for a moratorium on immigration bills.

Indianapolis-based drug maker Eli Lilly was among those who publicly opposed an Arizona-style bill. Last week, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed into law more modest bills: the in-state tuition ban and an end to tax credits for companies that hire illegal immigrants.

In Utah, businesses helped create the Utah Compact, the basis for the most comprehensive immigration law to come out of the states. It resembles Arizona on enforcement but allows illegal immigrants to work in Utah. A judge blocked the bill last week, following the ACLU lawsuit.

Jacoby acknowledged many businesses particularly opposed E-verify.

Indeed, in Florida, the House and Senate couldn’t reach a compromise on the E-verify component, and the proposals died. The Indiana and Alabama legislatures faced similar splits between their House and Senate over measures targeting employers.

Jacoby said it was the Arizona-like enforcement sections of the bills that generated the attention and public debate, and that in many states, E-verify went down along with them.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter limits on immigration, believes many businesses concerned about E-verify cynically stoked opposition to the bills by emphasizing the enforcement angle.

“The businesses community really did pull out all the stops on this, and I have to give them props,” Krikorian said. “The strategy was to make a big deal about Arizona-style legislation in order to scare off E-verify.”

Immigrants and their supporters were also ready to battle, capitalizing on networks they developed in recent years in response to Arizona’s law and the federal government’s stepped-up deportation efforts.

In Florida, farmworkers, students and other immigrants and activists spent weeks at the Capitol, protesting and praying during committee hearings but also lobbying heavily behind the scenes.

In Kansas, they quickly spread a YouTube clip of Republican State Rep. Virgil Peck likening illegal immigrants to feral hogs, generating a swift backlash nationwide that helped doom bills there.

The progressive Latino group Democracia USA took out ads against proposals in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Florida. President Jorge Mursuli said backers of some state bills couldn’t answer basic questions about the legislation, such as whether families hiring nannies would have to use E-verify, or whether employers would be on the hook for unemployment insurance for new hires found ineligible to work.

“A lot of folks were doing this as a political stunt, rather than as a real policy effort,” he said.

Still, those itching for action in Washington may get their wish. Immigration groups and those who support enforcement-only measures say they will redouble lobbying efforts at the federal level. Last week, Democratic senators in Washington reintroduced the Dream Act, though it’s unlikely to pass the Republican-led House, and certainly not before the 2012 election.

President Barack Obama also gave his second speech in two weeks on immigration.

Krikorian noted the Supreme Court will soon rule on the constitutionality of a 2007 Arizona law that mandated all companies there use E-verify. If that law is upheld, he believes other states will again follow Arizona’s lead.

“Then the game isn’t over,” he said.

___

Associated Press writers Josh Loftin in Salt Lake City, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Ken Kusmer in Indianapolis, Molly Davis in Baton Rouge, La., and Roger Alford in Frankfort, Ky., contributed to this report.

5/23 – ajc.com – Cobb group hosts public forum on immigration law | ajc.com

Cobb group hosts public forum on immigration law  | ajc.com.

Cobb County News 2:51 p.m. Monday, May 23, 2011

By Janel Davis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cobb Immigrant Alliance will hold a town hall meeting Tuesday on Georgia’s new immigration law, HB 87.

Immigrant experts will discuss how community development, employment and civil rights are impacted by the law.

Alliance director, Rich Pellegrino, called HB 87 an unfunded mandate and diversionary tactic that does not solve immigration problems or the community’s real issues of jobs and the economy.

The forum begins at 6 p.m. at the South Cobb Regional Library, 805 Clay Road in Mableton.

Information: http://www.laboroflovecampaign.org

5/23 – WABE (AUDIO) – Groups Outside the State React to Georgia’s New Immigration Law (2011-05-23)

WABE: Groups Outside the State React to Georgia’s New Immigration Law (2011-05-23).

Groups Outside the State React to Georgia’s New Immigration Law

Shomial Ahmad (2011-05-23)

Listen Now: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1806506

ATLANTA, GA (WABE) – Some groups outside of Georgia are looking at ways to protest the passage of the state’s new immigration law.

The National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce is considering breaking its contract with the Hilton in downtown Atlanta for it’s 25th anniversary conference. Sue Hyde is with the taskforce.

“The potential loss of revenue for the city of Atlanta probably is within the range of 6 or 7 million dollars.”

Hyde says they’re aiming for 5,000 attendees at the January 2013 conference. She says their conference last year in Dallas, which was smaller, generated 4 million dollars in revenue. An Arizona-based Republican group also wrote a letter to Porsche asking it to reconsider the site for its new headquarters in Hapeville. DeeDee Garcia Blase is with the Hispanic group Somos Republicans.

“I don’t think it’s smart for Porsche to put their business and headquarters in Georgia when Georgia has proven itself to be anti-growth, anti-small business and anti-immigrant.”

Somos Republicans also wrote to Coke, asking that company to not donate to politicians who supported the passage of HB 87.

5/23 – CBSAtlanta (VIDEO) – Protests Continue Against Georgia’s New Immigration Law – Atlanta News Story – WGCL Atlanta

Protests Continue Against Georgia’s New Immigration Law – Atlanta News Story – WGCL Atlanta.

Protestors Line The Streets In Downtown Atlanta

Written By: Michelle Marsh – CBS Atlanta Reporter

POSTED: 7:08 pm EDT May 22, 2011

UPDATED: 7:53 am EDT May 23, 2011

ATLANTA — Hundreds of protestors lined the streets in downtown Atlanta in opposition to Georgia’s new immigration law.Adelina Nicholls from the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights said they’re fighting for mothers and kids who will be affected by the new law.”We are afraid but we are here … it will not stop the movement for immigration reform,” Nicholls said.Nicholls said families made up of legal and illegal immigrants will be forced to make tough decisions — possibly split up or go back to their home country.Antonio Cortes said some families have already decided to leave the country.”A lot of people tell me they are afraid to drive and they are going back to Mexico. They are really confused about the future,” Cortes said.The author of House Bill 87, Rep. Matt Ramsey, said the intent of the law is to encourage immigrants to enter the country legally.

(VIDEO: http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/27984513/detail.html )

5/23 – NPR (AUDIO) – Georgia Farmers Brace For New Immigration Law : NPR

Georgia Farmers Brace For New Immigration Law : NPR.

by Kathy Lohr

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET

• Transcript

Enlarge Kathy Lohr/NPRMigrant workers hand pick Vidalia onions in Georgia. The vegetable is too delicate to be harvested with machines.

May 23, 2011

Georgia is putting in place a new law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants, and many across the state are nervous. Businesses fear an economic boycott, the Latino community fears police officers will abuse their new powers, and farmers in South Georgia fear the law will hurt them dramatically.

Georgia is known for its peaches and Vidalia onions, the state vegetable. The specialty crop is produced in just a few counties in the rural southeast part of the state, where the soil is just right.

Aries Haygood with M&T Farms watches a crew of about 50 migrant workers as they hand pick the golden onions in groups of three or four.

“Right now they’re just coming in through the field,” he says. “They’re grabbing the onions out and just clipping the tops and roots getting them prepared to bring to the packing house.”

It’s a labor-intensive process that machines just can’t do because they’d bruise the delicate crop — a $140 million-a-year industry.

This farm has 500 acres of onions with some 80,000 plants per acre, so Haygood relies heavily on migrant workers for help.

“Our biggest fear is that because of the way the bill could be structured we won’t be able to find enough workers to do the work that we need done in a short amount of time,” he says.

‘Livelihood On The Line’

Just a few miles east, R.T. Stanley Jr. has been growing Vidalia onions since the 1970s. He’s also troubled by the immigration law, which he says is already affecting his workers.

“If they’re scared they’ll go to other states instead of Georgia because we have this new law,” he says. “And I’m worried about that.”

About The Law

Georgia’s immigration law takes effect July 1.

• The law sets up new regulations for hiring workers and gives broader powers to police to arrest illegal immigrants. It also increases the penalty for people using fake identification to get a job and requires most employers to use the federal E-Verify system to ensure a person is eligible to work.
• Those who apply for public benefits, including food stamps and public housing, will now have to provide IDs to prove they are legal U.S. citizens.
• The law affects all employers, but farmers say they will feel it the most because they employ hundreds of migrant workers.
• Some opponents of the law say it has already affected businesses that cater to Latino residents, and Atlanta business leaders worry a threatened boycott will hurt the economy.

— Kathy Lohr

Stanley says experienced workers can earn as much as $200 a day. He says he’s tried to hire locals to do the job — working in the fields eight hours or more clipping, bending and lifting in the oppressive Georgia heat.

“They just don’t want to do this hard work. And they’ll tell you right quick,” he says. “I have ‘em to come out and work for two hours and they said, ‘I’m not doing this. It’s too hard.’ “

For Stanley, finding workers is already tough enough and he says the new restrictions are likely to make it worse.

“I got my livelihood on the line,” he says. “If I don’t harvest these onions, I’ll lose my farm.”

Some farmers do use the federal government’s temporary worker program known as H-2A, but they say the system has problems — including red tape and processing delays.

The new Georgia law, patterned after the Arizona law currently being challenged in court, requires that all businesses with more than 10 employees use the federal E-Verify system to confirm workers’ eligibility.

Onion growers say they know there’s pressure on politicians to do something about illegal immigration, but they’re not sure this is the answer.

Joel Salgado, a crew foreman from Mexico, is here legally and has been harvesting onions for about 15 years. “The people have to go back to Mexico, you know. They don’t want to risk any more over here,” he says. “They no gonna find work. … I know a lot of families that went back already.”

Law Faces Challenges

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal knows there’s opposition to the new law, including legal challenges and the threat of an economic boycott. But he says the new law is the right thing to do.

Enlarge Tami Chappell/APGeorgia Gov. Nathan Deal signs the state’s new immigration bill in Atlanta May 13 as state Rep. Matt Ramsey — the bill’s sponsor — looks on.

“Let me reiterate something important that sometimes gets lost,” he said, as he signed the bill May 13. “Illegal immigration is already illegal in the state of Georgia.”

Deal says nearly half a million illegal immigrants are estimated to live in Georgia — and they cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year. State Rep. Matt Ramsey is the bill’s sponsor.

“It’s not just an immigration issue,” Ramsey says. “It’s a school issue. It’s a transportation issue. It’s a health care issue. “

As the law is phased in over the next couple of years, farmers in South Georgia suggest agriculture workers could be treated differently from others — but Ramsey says that won’t work.

“I don’t think we need to start picking winners and losers in the statute and treating industries different,” he says. “Particularly in this time of 10 percent unemployment.”

But back in Vidalia, Haygood says if farmers can’t get enough workers, they may have to stop producing crops like onions and peaches.

“We’ve invested our time and our effort into growing our companies and then all of a sudden something like this could put this industry out of business, overnight.”

It’s unclear exactly what will happen as Georgia begins implementing its new law. Farmers will have to comply — and higher labor and processing costs could mean higher prices for consumers.

5/23 – ajc.com – Hispanic GOP group urges Porsche to build HQ outside Georgia | ajc.com

Hispanic GOP group urges Porsche to build HQ outside Georgia  | ajc.com.

Georgia Politics 10:34 a.m. Monday, May 23, 2011

By Jeremy Redmon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Hispanic Republican group opposed to Georgia’s new immigration enforcement law is asking Porsche to reconsider building its new North American headquarters in the state.

Somos Republicans — an Arizona-based organization aimed at increasing the number of Latinos voting for Republican candidates — made the request in an open letter it issued Friday concerning Georgia’s House Bill 87.

“Critics of HB 87 are already organizing boycotts, a development which should concern [Porsche], which as a Georgia-based company would likely experience a reduction in sales from such a boycott,” the letter says.

“We urge Porsche to reconsider your choice of Georgia as the site of a new headquarters facility, as we don’t believe Georgia has provided an accurate picture of Georgia’s economy and the regression into a past era where Georgia experienced some of the worst bigotry in modern times.”

A Porsche spokesman said Monday that his company is proceeding with plans to move its North American headquarters and what could be hundreds of jobs from Sandy Springs to the site of a former Ford plant near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Porsche first announced those plans this month.

“We are staying in Georgia. We are expanding here because of the excellent workforce and everything that we mentioned in our press conference the other day,” Porsche spokesman Steve Janisse said.

Gov. Nathan Deal signed HB 87 into law this month. Much of it is scheduled to start taking effect July 1. Partly patterned after a law Arizona enacted last year, Georgia’s measure punishes people who transport or harbor illegal immigrants.

Georgia’s law also penalizes people who use fake identification to get a job here. And it authorizes police to investigate the immigration status of suspects they believe have committed state or federal crimes and who cannot produce identification, such as a driver’s license, or provide other information that could help police identify them.

Somos Republicans — or “We are Republicans” — issued its open letter on the same day other opponents of HB 87 revealed they are divided over how to respond to Georgia’s new law.

The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, the Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia and the Latinos in Information Sciences & Technology Association announced their opposition to economic boycotts Friday, saying they could hurt Hispanics who work in the state’s tourism industry. On the other side, organizations that advocate for immigrants — including Cuentame and Southerners on New Ground — have encouraged businesses and conventioneers to cancel their trips to Georgia because of House Bill 87.