Thread: GA: PROMISE KEPTDeal-O-Meter; Deal keeps his word on Arizona

PROMISE KEPT Deal-O-Meter; Deal keeps his word on Arizona-style immigration law

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 16, 2011
By Eric Stirgus

Last year, Georgia GOP gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal vowed to crack down on illegal immigration.

"We will take our stand and do what Arizona has done," Deal said at one candidates forum, referring to that Western state's immigration legislation.

Democratic candidate Roy Barnes, who lost to Deal in the general election, also had vowed to back an Arizona-style law.

On Friday, Gov. Deal signed House Bill 87.

The hotly debated legislation creates requirements for many Georgia businesses to ensure new hires are eligible to work in the United States.

It also empowers police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects.

Georgia has among the nation's fastest-growing populations of illegal immigrants, some research shows, with more illegal immigrants than Arizona.

Deal, a Republican, was under heavy pressure not to sign the bill, which the Georgia Legislature passed last month.

A few business owners, particularly in the influential agricultural industry, worry that the legislation will harm their trade since they rely in part on migrant workers.

Some Latino groups and civil libertarians argued HB 87 will result in civil rights violations by law enforcement.

Other groups have threatened economic boycotts of the Peach State.

Deal deflected the criticism and signed the bill anyway.

So is the Georgia law an Arizona-style piece of legislation?

The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials called one version of HB 87 a "copycat" version of the Arizona measure, Senate Bill 1070.

We investigated the claim in March and rated it only Half-True.

HB 87's sponsor, Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, said he studied SB 1070 and attempted to craft his bill to withstand some of the legal challenges aimed at the Arizona legislation.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has previously reviewed HB 87 and SB 1070 and found a few similarities.

Both, for example, authorize state and local police to verify the immigration status of suspects when they have "probable cause" to believe they have committed a criminal offense, including any traffic violation.

"It is the kind of legislation I promised on the campaign, and the General Assembly has delivered it, and I intend to sign it, " Deal said after HB 87 was passed.

Considering the few similarities between the two measures, the Georgia legislation has some important elements that make it an "Arizona-style" immigration law.

We rate this as a campaign Promise Kept and one which millions of Georgia citizens welcome!

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Related Thread Here
Georgia Immigration Bill Signed Into Law
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-237960-georgia.html

That's great news for Georgia, but I fear it will be bad news for N.Carolinians... the illegals will "migrate" to illegal friendly NC now!

I live in CA, but a lot my family lives in GA. The illegal problem is not as bad in GA as it is in CA, but GA must act now. If they don't act they'll just be another NC. My relatives in NC say the illegals there run wild.