4/15 – CSMonitor – Mexican opinion of US dwindles amid spread of Arizona-style immigration laws – CSMonitor.com

Mexican opinion of US dwindles amid spread of Arizona-style immigration laws – CSMonitor.com.

Georgia’s legislature passed a bill Thursday night giving law enforcement broader authority to verify immigrant status, a move inspired by an Arizona law that many Mexicans called ‘racist.’

By Andrew Kennis, Contributor / April 15, 2011

Mexico City

Mexicans might now be reticent about taking that midnight train to Georgia. The state legislature Thursday passed an Arizona-style immigration bill authorizing police to check the passport status of anyone deemed “suspicious” and forces businesses to do the same with potential employees.

The bill, which Gov. Nathan Deal (R) is expected to sign, is the latest in a wave of immigration reform legislation that is sweeping the US and souring Mexican opinion of America. Prior to the enactment of the Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 one year ago, 62 percent of Mexicans had a positive opinion of the US, compared with 44 percent after the law passed, according to the Pew Research Center.

“I don’t like the climate over there, it’s horrible,” says Felipe Hernandez, a taxi driver in Mexico City, who recently decided against immigrating to the US because of fears over the new laws.

IN PICTURES: The scene at the US/Mexico border

In addition to Georgia, three more states – Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina – are poised to adopt “show me your papers” laws in coming months. As such laws quietly proliferate in the US, Mexicans are anxiously watching, concerned that the US is becoming increasingly xenophobic. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, the former mayor of Mexico City and a past presidential candidate, told the Monitor that the Arizona law is “racist” and that he will be “encouraging the defeat of any and all ‘show me your paper laws.’ ”

No less than two dozen states have introduced pieces of legislation with “show me your papers” aspects, although there is some significant doubt whether they will ever be enforced. Not one state has implemented such laws, and nine states have voted down similar proposals. Court challenges to Arizona’s law have prevented its full implementation, including the provision requiring police to check the immigration status of people they lawfully stop, and Georgia’s law is also expected to be the target of legal challenges.

“Criminalizing immigration will not stop the flow of Immigration,” says Avelino Mendez, a lawmaker representing a Mexico City district. “These laws don’t solve anything.”

“These laws may change the way we see ‘el gabacho,’ ” says Guillermo Rivera, a constituent from Mr. Mendez’s district, using the Spanish slang for Americans. “But it won’t stop us from going there.”

Mexicans see US in new light

Polling data does indeed reveal a sharply eroded opinion toward the US. Among 21 nations recently surveyed in the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, Mexicans had the largest decline in favorable opinion toward the US, with researchers eyeing the Arizona law as the cause. Such opinions are reflected across Mexican politics. Right-leaning President Felipe Calderón has said the Arizona law amounts to a tacit acceptance of racial profiling, echoing the sentiments of left-leaning Mr. Cárdenas.

Jamie Juarez certainly agrees with that. A documented immigrant from Mexico now residing in Tuscon, Ariz., his stepdaughter was last August driving on Tuscon’s I-10 with several friends when a highway patrol officer stopped their car, ostensibly for a broken window, and requested their IDs. One of the girls lacked her “papers.” Officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) then detained Mr. Juarez’s stepdaughter and two girlfriends.

If Juarez had not rushed to the scene and presented the papers of his stepdaughter, she may have been deported like her friends, who were both sent back to Mexico.

Skip to next paragraph

Related Stories

• Who works the longest hours? Mexicans, says OECD Report.
• Mexico drug war’s latest victim: the lime
• Arizona may not enforce key parts of immigration law, court rules

How well do you know Mexico? Take our quiz.

“The officer told me that he didn’t know if they were ‘terrorists or criminals,’ ” says Juarez, his voice visibly shaken and angry. “This greatly offended me and made me think that this man was racist and shouldn’t be working as a police officer. I assume he won’t be reprimanded, because Arizona is plagued with problems like these.”

Cecilia Wang, a lawyer for the Arizona branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who took down Juarez’s story, calls this a clear case of racial profiling. “What the officer did in this situation, asking for all passengers for identification, falls out of the purview for a traffic stop and was improper. This is why we’re concerned about the fate of SB 1070, as this story can become a legal practice.”

Deportations for routine traffic violations are very common, says Guadulupe Chipole, director of a Mexican federal agency that provides services to immigrant families. “Many of them complain that only because they were dark skinned, they were stopped by the police,” she says.

Laws strain state finances

Amid such outrage among Mexicans, some US-based groups are also launching attacks on the laws. The Center for American Progress in Washington has taken a financial angle, asserting that Arizona’s economy would lose $50 billion through the cost of law enforcement and the loss of cheap labor and tax revenue.

“The stated goal of ‘show me your paper laws’ is to drive the whole undocumented population out,” says Marshall Fitz, the center’s director of immigration policy. “If you were to succeed with this… it would shrink their economy substantially and be a windfall for taxpayers and public revenues.”

“This ideological swing toward xenophobia is truly beyond rationality,” he adds.

Ali Noorani of the National Immigration Forum in Washington agrees “the passage of SB1070 actually harms the economy.”

Meanwhile, the Georgia bill that passed this week in the state Senate and House may never actually be enforced, says Azadeh Shahshahani, director of the ACLU’s branch in Georgia. She is “confident that if HB 87 succeeds in turning Georgia into ‘show me your papers’ territory, it will not withstand legal challenge.”

But that doesn’t mean the law won’t first affect Mexican opinion of the US. “By legislating discrimination,” the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Educational Fund wrote in a statement Thursday, “this bill would undermine Georgia’s history and image.”

Such “measures focused on criminalizing migrants open possibilities for undue law enforcement practices and racial profiling,” the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta said in a statement earlier this month, highlighting a detrimental affect on “friendship, trade, culture and tourism links.”

4/15 – WSJ – Georgia Lawmakers Target Illegal Immigration – WSJ.com

Georgia Lawmakers Target Illegal Immigration – WSJ.com.

• APRIL 16, 2011

Governor Plans to Sign Bill Granting Police Authority to Check a Suspect’s Status

By ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said on Friday he would sign into law an Arizona-style immigration bill, a move that would thrust his state into the center of the national debate over securing the country’s borders.

View Full Image

David Goldman/Associated PressRep. Matt Ramsey receives congratulations after his immigration bill passed in the Georgia House by a vote of 112 to 59 on Thursday.The bill would, among other provisions, allow police to check the immigration status of certain suspects and require many businesses to verify that employees are eligible to work in the country.

Supporters say it would help Georgia root out the state’s undocumented population—estimated at 425,000 by the Pew Hispanic Center—that they believe competes unfairly with legal workers.

“Illegal immigration is destroying Georgia,” said D.A. King, president of the Dustin Inman Society, a group that opposes undocumented immigration and backs the bill. “It is lowering our wages, and it is a huge drain on our already inadequate budget dollars.”

Opposition to the measure has been intense. Business groups argue that it would sully the state’s image nationally and discourage employers. They also worry that the employment verification system—requiring employers to check prospective workers’ paperwork against a federal database known as E-Verify—would prove costly and burdensome.

Last-minute changes to the bill satisfied some concerns expressed by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, said spokeswoman Joselyn Baker. Lawmakers agreed to exempt businesses with 10 or fewer employees from the requirement to check workers’ employment status.

Farmers say that the bill would drive out immigrant laborers—both legal and illegal—upon whom they depend to pick fruit and harvest cotton. And civil and immigrant rights groups say the measure would lead to racial profiling.

It will “create an extremely hostile environment in Georgia,” said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. “Georgia is seen as the home of the civil rights movement.” … The irony is that the state will be working against civil rights.”

Georgia is one of 30 states considering immigration proposals, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Others include Oklahoma, Indiana and South Carolina.

As in many other states across the country, Georgia’s Hispanic population is experiencing dramatic growth, and that’s part of what’s driving lawmakers to act, said Debra Sabia, a political-science professor at Georgia Southern University. That population nearly doubled, to 853,000, in the past decade, according to the 2010 census.

“The fact is, Georgians have had little experience in assimilating immigrants,” she said, “and the rapid growth of the Hispanic community hasn’t helped that disquiet.”

Latino and immigrant rights groups are vowing to call for boycotts of the state, just as they did in response to the law passed in Arizona.

There, many business associations canceled their convention plans in the state. Mr. Gonzalez argues that the same could happen to Georgia. “It will be an economic disaster,” he said.

The measure also faces likely legal challenges. “We believe this is an unconstitutional measure,” said Azadeh Shahshahani of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Georgia chapter. If it passes, “we will examine all the options,” including litigation.

A federal appeals court Monday upheld a freeze on key provisions of an Arizona law designed to rein in illegal immigration, which is being challenged by the Obama administration.

The injunction came last year after the U.S. Justice Department sued the border state to halt the law, arguing that enforcing immigration is a federal responsibility. Monday’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the Arizona law likely violates the Constitution’s supremacy clause, suggesting the federal government could win its case against the state.

In Georgia, Rep. Matt Ramsey, the author of the immigration bill, says he was careful to avoid some of the more controversial language in Arizona’s law.

The Arizona measure requires police to check the immigration status of an individual, detained in a lawful stop, who they have a “reasonable suspicion” may be undocumented.

In Mr. Ramsey’s legislation, police may only check the immigration status of suspects who are under investigation for criminal offenses. Moreover, his bill lacks a provision in the Arizona law—one that made it a state crime for non-citizens not to carry their papers—that the judge declared an encroachment on federal authority.

“We’re very confident from a constitutional standpoint,” said Mr. Ramsey.

—Miriam Jordan contributed to this article.

Write to Arian Campo-Flores at arian.campo-flores@wsj.com

4/15 – ACLU News – Georgia Legislature Passes Racial Profiling Law

ACLU News » Blog Archive » Georgia Legislature Passes Racial Profiling Law.

Georgia Legislature Passes Racial Profiling Law

Arizona Copycat Legislation Threatens Civil Liberties And Interferes With Federal Immigration Law, Says ACLU

April 14, 2011

ATLANTA – The Georgia legislature passed a discriminatory law tonight authorizing police to demand “papers” from people they stop who they suspect are not authorized to be in the U.S.  The extreme law, House Bill 87, a copycat version of the notorious law passed in Arizona, invites racial profiling of Latinos and others based on how they look or talk and interferes with federal law.  The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia strongly condemned the legislature’s decision to pass this unconstitutional law and warned of the serious threat it poses to the civil liberties and public safety of all Georgians.

“This law undermines our core American values of fairness and equality and will make the rampant racial profiling of people of color that is already going on in Georgia that much worse, threatening the rights of citizens and non-citizens alike,” said Debbie Seagraves, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia. “Authorizing police to demand papers from people on the street is a tactic commonly associated with police states, not robust democracies.”

The Georgia law authorizes police to demand “papers” from people they stop in the course of an offense, including traffic violations.  All Georgians will have to carry “papers” on them at all times in order to avoid being detained while police try to determine their immigration status. The law creates new state-level immigration crimes and penalties that are inconsistent with federal law.  Most sections of the law will go into effect on July 1, 2011.

“This law threatens the safety and security of all Georgians by diverting already limited resources away from law enforcement’s primary responsibility to provide protection and promote public safety in the community,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director. “This ill-conceived law sends a clear message to communities that the authorities are not to be trusted, making them less likely to come forward as survivors of or witnesses to crime.”

The ACLU and a coalition of civil rights organizations filed a class action lawsuit in May 2010 challenging Arizona’s SB 1070, the discriminatory law that inspired Georgia’s bill, charging that it invites the racial profiling of Latinos and others deemed to look or sound “foreign,” violates the First Amendment and interferes with federal law. The Department of Justice also filed a lawsuit challenging the law and a federal appellate court recently upheld the Arizona district court decision to block the core provisions of the law.

“We stand committed to defending the civil liberties of all Americans from unconstitutional laws that lead to racial profiling and ‘papers please’ harassment. The ACLU will continue to be on the front lines fighting discriminatory laws like these across the country,” said Omar Jadwat, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.

4/15 – Huffington Post – Azadeh Shahshahani: Keep the University Gates Open for Georgia’s DREAMers

Azadeh Shahshahani: Keep the University Gates Open for Georgia’s DREAMers.

Posted: 04/15/11 05:59 PM ET

Last week, seven undocumented students were arrested in Atlanta for engaging in a sit-in in front of Georgia State University. The students had gathered to call for the repeal of Georgia’s discriminatory policy that denies undocumented students access to higher education at five of the most selective institutions in the University System of Georgia (USG). The students were part of a network of youth activists organizing in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a bill that promotes fundamental fairness in access to higher education for all high school students, regardless of immigration status.

Georgina Perez, a 21-year-old Georgia resident who has lived in the U.S. since she was three years old, said in an interview:

I’m a proud Georgian. I’m a proud Mexicana. I was brought to this country by a very courageous woman. She’s my hero. She’s my mother. She left everyone and everything she knew behind in order for her to give me a better life; so I’m not, I’m not going to let anyone or anything stop me from getting my higher education. I’m not going to let her sacrifices be in vain.

Several students at the rally spoke to the importance of aspiring to higher education, as their parents had toiled hard to ensure that they were provided this opportunity.

The ACLU of Georgia sent a letter Tuesday to the Georgia Board of Regents calling for the repeal of this discriminatory policy. We reminded the board of a letter we sent them six months ago, signed by 30 organizations, asking them to reject the policy for a number of reasons rooted in principles of fundamental fairness and economic considerations for our state.

An ACLU of Georgia investigation has revealed that the policy has had even more damaging consequences, as it is being widely misinterpreted and misapplied. Several schools not covered by this policy appear to have improperly conditioned acceptance or registration for Fall 2011 upon verification of students’ lawful presence in the United States, potentially cutting off any and all access to higher education for undocumented students.

As our investigation uncovered, several USG institutions not among the five institutions covered by the policy have indicated in their admissions materials that acceptance or registration for Fall 2011 is contingent on verification of lawful presence. These include the North Georgia College & State University, Valdosta State University, and Augusta State University. Similarly, numerous USG institutions, including East Georgia College, Georgia Highlands College, and Georgia Southern University, erroneously suggest that the Board of Regents’ policy regarding eligibility for in-state tuition requires verification of lawful presence for acceptance or registration.

Such practices mislead students as to the actual admission and registration requirements at USG schools and raise significant privacy concerns by inquiring into students’ immigration status without a basis for doing so.

In addition, economic considerations cannot be underestimated. Denying higher education access to Georgia’s undocumented students further fails to capitalize on the state’s investment in students’ K-12 education. If this policy were to remain in effect, undocumented students will not be able to utilize their full potential to advance the competitive edge of the state they call home.

As Chancellor Erroll Davis has attested, allowing undocumented students to enroll in public colleges and universities in Georgia imposes no additional cost on the state, as they are already paying out-of-state tuition, which more than fully covers the cost of their education.

It is time for the Georgia Board of Regents to repeal this fundamentally unjust, economically shortsighted, and unnecessary policy.

4/15 – ajc.com – Georgia immigration law extreme, far-reaching | Jay Bookman

Georgia immigration law extreme, far-reaching | Jay Bookman.

Jay Bookman

1:12 pm April 15, 2011, by Jay

To tell you the truth, I didn’t believe they’d pull the trigger. And I’m not sure they believed it either.

For all their rhetoric and immigrant-bashing, I didn’t believe that Georgia legislators would go as far as they have in trying to criminalize substantial sectors of the state economy.

Essentially, that’s what they’ve done. If signed into law as expected by Gov. Nathan Deal, upheld in court and then fully implemented, House Bill 87 makes it illegal for a wide range of economic sectors — from Atlanta’s hotels and restaurants to the onion fields of Vidalia to the chicken and carpet industries — to function without substantial changes in how they operate. For some businesses and perhaps even entire industries, those changes may make it difficult to stay profitable, at least in Georgia.

Legislators were told all that. The state’s business and agriculture communities made sure they had their say, but in the end their warnings were ignored. None of it mattered. They could not prevent years of harsh, even demagogic rhetoric from being translated into actual law.

In fact, HB 87 has the potential to be the single most transformative piece of legislation passed in this state since the civil rights era. That’s how far-reaching some of its provisions are. Call it an educated, informed guess, but I’d bet that many Georgia Republicans, from the governor on down, are looking at each other today and wondering what in the hell they have done.

You could hear that doubt in Deal’s words earlier this week, when asked whether he would weigh in the controversial legislation. “I view this as primarily a legislative responsibility,” he said. “The difficulty they have encountered reflects the complexity of the issue, and certainly it’s a very multifaceted issue and a difficult one to come to logical conclusions that will be meaningful.”

This, from a man who in the past hasn’t hesitated to express strong support for harsh immigration legislation. Because of that history, he now has no choice but to embrace and sign it, whatever his private misgivings might be.

This thing simply got away from the state’s leadership. It gathered a momentum that none dared try to stop, and now we’re going to live with the consequences.

– Jay Bookman

4/15 – ajc.com – ADL declares immigration bill will drive away business | Political Insider

ADL declares immigration bill will drive away business | Political Insider.

2:28 pm April 15, 2011, by jgalloway

Gov. Nathan Deal has already declared he intends to sign HB 87, but the following just arrived from Bill Nigut, the Southeast regional director of the Anti-Defamation League:

“It is unfortunate that legislators did not heed the advice of many voices in the Georgia business community, hospitality industry, the Farm Bureau, human rights organizations and others who urged them to reject this harsh immigration measure that is all but certain to drive business and tax revenues away from Georgia and send the message that this state is not a welcoming place for the diverse global community.

“If H.B. 87 is signed into law, it will likely lead to many negative economic consequences:

“Georgia businesses will be required to spend the money and time to implement a new government mandate – requiring all employers of ten or more people to use the E-Verify program to determine legal status of employees.

“Convention and tourism business will likely dip, as it did in Arizona, where it is estimated the state has lost more than $100 million in hospitality industry revenues since passage of the Arizona immigration laws.

“Georgia could lose as much as $250 million in sales, income and property tax that undocumented workers are estimated by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute to have contributed to the state’s economy. (2006 study.)

“In addition, Georgia taxpayers will be forced to pay the potentially significant costs for defending the measure against lawsuits that will be filed challenging the Constitutionality of the bill.

“H.B. 87 is onerous in other ways, as well. It imposes upon local law enforcement agencies the added burden of determining the legal status of those they stop for even minor traffic offenses; and it opens the door for situations in which officers, even those acting in good faith, may use characteristics such as skin color, national origin, foreign accents or language as reasons for questioning legal status.

“For these and other reasons, ADL strongly urges Governor Deal to veto this bill.”

4/15 – MSNBC (AP) – Tough immigration bill heads to Ga. governor – Politics – More politics – msnbc.com

Tough immigration bill heads to Ga. governor – Politics – More politics – msnbc.com.

Bill would require employers with 10 employees or more to check legal status of new hires

By KATE BRUMBACK, SHANNON McCAFFREY

updated 4/15/2011 8:29:08 AM ET

ATLANTA — The Georgia Legislature has passed an immigration bill that contains some parts similar to an Arizona law being challenged in court.

Republican Gov. Nathan Deal must sign it to make it law. His office on Thursday would not say if the Republican governor would sign it.

Deal supported tough immigration measures when he was in Congress.

The bill would authorize law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of certain criminal suspects and allows them to detain those found to be in the country illegally. It would also penalize people who “knowingly and intentionally” transport or harbor illegal immigrants.

Story: Court rules against Arizona immigration law

It also would require employers with 10 or more employees to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the immigration status of new hires.

Rep. Matt Ramsey, who crafted the bill, said he has talked with lawyers and believes the law would withstand legal challenges.

Ramsey said E-Verify is the most important part of his bill because jobs drive illegal immigrants to Georgia. Business groups have said the requirement puts an undue burden on employers.

“From the business standpoint, it’s an unacceptable mandate on the private sector,” Georgia Agribusiness Council president Bryan Tolar said. “As long as E-Verify is in it, (this bill) is bad for Georgia’s economy.”

‘Legislative responsibility’
As of last month, legislators in 30 states had introduced 52 bills that include more than one immigration provision, many with language similar to Arizona’s law, according to National Conference of State Legislatures. Of those, 14 have failed and 36 are pending.

Utah is the only state so far to have enacted a law similar to Arizona’s, requiring police to check the immigration status of anyone stopped for a felony or serious misdemeanor. Arizona’s law allows police to question immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion they’re in the country illegally.

Earlier this week, a federal appeals court upheld a judge’s decision that has prevented the most controversial parts of the law from taking effect.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, who made immigration a centerpiece of his tenure in Congress, has been largely silent on the wrangling in his state’s General Assembly.

“I view this as primarily the legislative responsibility,” he said Wednesday.

Civil liberties and immigrant rights groups have opposed the bills — holding a rally at the Capitol last month that drew more than 5,000 people. They’ve collected thousands of signatures on a petition and spoke out at legislative committee meetings.

They say the bill will be bad for the state’s economy and could also lead to civil rights violations and lawsuits. Many Democrats have taken up those arguments.

4/15 – IPC Media Release – In Georgia, Politics Trump Common Sense on Immigration

In Georgia, Politics Trump Common Sense on Immigration.

For Immediate Release    In Georgia, Politics Trump Common Sense on Immigration Leaving “Wisdom, Justice and Moderation” Behind  April 15, 2011 Washington D.C. – Last night, the Georgia legislature passed HB 87, a bill modeled after Arizona’s SB 1070 law. The bill allows local police to investigate the immigration status of individuals and requires businesses to verify work eligibility of new hires through E-Verify, a flawed federal employment verification system. Governor Nathan Deal has indicated he will sign the bill despite pleas from Georgia’s business community who rightly fear the law will hurt the state’s critical farming and restaurant industries.   By doing so, Governor Deal is ignoring the economic reality of the state’s $1.3 billion budget shortfall, and the fact that the costs associated with the bill have not been enumerated by state legislators who failed to attach a fiscal note to it. He is also closing his eyes to the cautionary tale that Arizona provides. After passage of their similar law – which has not been implemented and has been deemed unconstitutional – they lost $141 million from cancelled conferences, including a “quarter billion dollars in lost economic output,” a projected $86 million in lost wages, 2,800 jobs over the next two to three years and more than $1 million that the state has already spent on legal fees defending it. Plans for an economic boycott of Georgia are also reportedly underway.   In addition to the the economic disaster this law will inflict on the state, the Governor should be prepared for the considerable reputational damage that will also follow. By allowing this bill to become law, the Governor is walking away from the state’s motto “Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation” and is poised to leave a dark mark on Georgia’s history and his own governing legacy. These state measures are economic and public relations disasters and are no replacement for common sense solutions at the federal level. ### For press inquiries, contact Wendy Sefsaf at wsefsaf@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524.

___________________________________________________________________________ The Immigration Policy Center (IPC), established in 2003, is the policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC’s mission is to shape a rational conversation on immigration and immigrant integration. Through its research and analysis, IPC provides policymakers, the media, and the general public with accurate information about the role of immigrants and immigration policy on U.S. society. IPC reports and materials are widely disseminated and relied upon by press and policy makers. IPC staff regularly serves as experts to leaders on Capitol Hill, opinion-makers and the media. IPC is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office. Division of the American Immigration Council.

4/15 – LATimes – Georgia immigration law: Georgia passes immigration bill similar to Arizona’s – latimes.com

Georgia immigration law: Georgia passes immigration bill similar to Arizona’s – latimes.com.

Police would be given the power to check the immigration status of ‘criminal’ suspects and many businesses would be required to do the same with potential hires.

Opponents of the bill protest outside the Capitol in Atlanta. Immigrant advocates threatened a state boycott if the bill becomes law, and Georgia’s powerful agricultural industry warned of a field worker shortage. (David Goldman / Associated Press / April 14, 2011)

• Related
• PHOTO:  Immigration
• Court upholds judge’s ban on Arizona immigration law
• Not targeted but not safe, young illegal immigrants push for a new policy
• Stories
• GOP drafts legislative assault on illegal immigration

By Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times

April 14, 2011, 10:13 p.m.

Reporting from Atlanta—

Following Arizona’s lead, the Georgia Legislature on Thursday passed a strict measure that would empower police to check the immigration status of “criminal” suspects and force many businesses to do the same with potential employees.

The bill passed in the waning hours of the legislative session despite critics’ outcries. Immigrant advocates threatened a state boycott if it became law, and Georgia’s powerful agricultural industry warned, among other things, that federal guest worker programs alone could not provide enough laborers to meet farmers’ needs.

Now the measure heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who campaigned last year on the promise of implementing an Arizona-style law in a state with, according to one 2009 estimate, 480,000 illegal immigrants — about 20,000 more than Arizona.

Since his election, however, Deal has warned that immigration laws should not place an “undue burden” on employers, raising concerns among foes of illegal immigration that he was wobbling.

A Deal spokesman declined to comment late Thursday on the governor’s plans for the bill.

Whether or not it is enacted, Georgia’s legislation underscores the increasingly disparate strategies that states are invoking in lieu of a comprehensive federal plan to deal with illegal immigration.

On Monday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s order striking down parts of the controversial Arizona law, known as SB 1070, which was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last year. Among the rejected sections was a provision requiring police to check the immigration status of people they lawfully stop whom they also suspect to be illegal immigrants.

Some states, including Florida, are considering significant immigration bills, but others, including Nebraska and Colorado, have rejected such bills recently. Utah passed immigration-control legislation last month but softened its effects by also passing a law that creates “guest worker” ID cards for undocumented immigrants.

And just this week, Maryland’s General Assembly passed a bill that would grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants (as California does). Maryland’s governor was expected to sign it. Georgia is one of several states that denies in-state tuition to illegal immigrant residents.

In a provision with rough similarities to the most contentious part of the Arizona law, the Georgia bill gives police the authority to check a suspect’s immigration status if the suspect is unable to produce a valid ID and if the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect has committed a “criminal offense.” If the person is verified as an illegal immigrant, police can detain that person or notify federal authorities.

Charles Kuck, a prominent Atlanta immigration attorney, said the way the bill is written, “criminal offenses” could be as minor as traffic violations.

Kuck, a Republican and outspoken critic of the legislation, said there was some question as to whether this provision gave police any more power than they already have. But the bigger problem, he said, was with “the message that it sends — this bill says, ‘Immigrants, do not come to Georgia…. You’re gonna have to show us your papers when you come.’ ”

He scoffed at another section prohibiting police from considering “race, color or national origin” when enforcing the bill.

“Let me ask you a question,” Kuck said. “Do you think any white people are going be taken in for an immigration background check if they forgot their wallet at home?”

Among other things, the bill outlaws the use of fake IDs to secure employment and the transporting or harboring of illegal immigrants while knowingly committing another crime.

The biggest sticking point proved to be the provision that all but the smallest companies use the federal system called E-Verify to check the immigration status of new hires.

Critics from the farm lobby said E-Verify was not totally accurate, and put employers at risk of lawsuits if they erroneously denied a legal resident a job. The bill’s supporters characterized that as overblown rhetoric from an industry addicted to cheap labor.

An earlier Arizona law, passed in 2007, requires all employers to use E-Verify and dissolves businesses that repeatedly hire illegal immigrants. That law, too, has been challenged on grounds that it usurps federal authority. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in December.

If Georgia’s bill becomes law, it too is likely to wind up in court. But Peter Spiro, a Temple University law professor, said its fate may hinge on whether Arizona’s laws pass constitutional muster.

But for the time being, fans of the Georgia bill were heartened by their achievement Thursday.

“We’re a law-abiding state,” said state Sen. Earl “Buddy” Carter, a Republican from Pooler. “And we want people to abide by the laws.”

richard.fausset@latimes.com

4/15 – Bloomberg – Georgia Follows Arizona in Passing Broader Immigration Law – Bloomberg

Georgia Follows Arizona in Passing Broader Immigration Law – Bloomberg.

By Simone Baribeau – Apr 15, 2011 12:19 PM ET

A policeman stands guard as supporters and opponents of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law face off during a demonstration against illegal immigration on July 31, 2010 in Phoenix. Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images

Georgia passed a bill giving state law enforcement and businesses broader authority to identify undocumented immigrants, after a similar effort in Arizona was blocked by federal courts.

Under the legislation, police are allowed to verify the immigration status of people suspected of certain crimes and arrest those in the country illegally. It also would require businesses with at least 10 employees to use a federal database to check that new hires are authorized to work in the U.S.

“We don’t mind taking care of people, let’s just take care of our own people,” Renee Unterman, Republican Senator from Buford, said on the floor of the legislature in Atlanta yesterday. “I don’t want to take care of Mexico’s people that are here illegally.”

The legislation passed the Republican-controlled House and Senate last night. Governor Nathan Deal intends to sign the bill, a spokesman, Brian Robinson, said in an e-mail today.

Georgia’s bill follows a law in Arizona, passed in April 2010, requiring police to determine the immigration status of people stopped for questioning. A lower court’s ruling to block the central provisions of that law was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco on April 11. Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a similar bill into law in March.

Delayed by Challenges

Legal challenges to Arizona’s law have caused some of the more than 20 states where similar legislation was introduced to delay passing the measures, said Ann Morse, program director at the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.

“States are unlikely to go forward while the law is enjoined in court,” she said in a telephone interview.

The Georgia bill would allow racial profiling and “the flames of hate to be fanned,” said Senator Nan Orrock, a Democrat from Atlanta, on the Senate floor.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Agribusiness Council objected to provisions in the bill that would require businesses to use the federal E-Verify program to check that new employees are authorized to work. Lawmakers in states including Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee are considering similar legislation.

Requiring employers to use the federal system will open them up to lawsuits if they “trip over any one of the many rules” in the program, Bryan Tolar, president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, wrote in an op-ed this month in Savannahnow.com, a community website affiliated with the Savannah Morning News.

It also risks leaving immigrants in Georgia, where the U.S. Census Bureau found the Hispanic population almost doubled in past the decade, wary of police and less likely to contact them when they see crimes, making communities less safe, said Azadeh Shahshahani, a project director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

“It’s going to turn Georgia into a ‘show-me-your-papers’ state,” she said in a telephone interview from Atlanta.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Baribeau in Miami at sbaribeau@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net.