Johnson rolls out immigration plan, wants schools to collect data
11:10 am June 10, 2010,
by Aaron Gould Sheinin


Republican gubernatorial hopeful Eric Johnson on Thursday unveiled his plan for dealing with what he termed the federal government’s failure to secure the nation’s borders against illegal immigration.

Johnson, a former state senator from Savannah, said at a Capitol news conference that he would require all public K-12 schools to require proof of citizenship of students enrolling in Georgia. He said he would also require public hospitals to do the same thing when patients arrive in emergency rooms for treatment.

While Johnson said he would not deny any student a seat in a K-12 classroom or treatment at a hospital, collecting the data is the first step toward requiring Washington to deal with the situation.

“In addition to enforcing current law, we can deter illegal immigrants from residing in Georgia by cutting off the two reasons they come here: jobs and taxpayer-funded benefits,â€