http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1150794317411

New Ga. Immigration Law Worries Construction Employers
Aisha I. Jefferson
Fulton County Daily Report
06-21-2006

Centex Construction Vice President Jeff George estimates that a typical $20 million project employs 500 to 700 manual laborers -- 30 percent to 40 percent of whom speak English as a second language.

George says he doesn't know if any of those workers are in the country illegally. His subcontractors have reported the workers as legitimate.

But in fewer than 13 months, a new Georgia law will require employers to verify their workers' immigration status or risk severe penalties -- a burden that has George and others worried about the state's construction industry.

The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, says George, "doesn't fix the fact that we need foreign workers who need to be legitimized as a whole, and it doesn't fix the fact that we are one of many industries dependent on them."

Economist Donald Ratajczak adds that "if the laws are aggressively enforced, the industry would be almost impacted overnight."

"You just can't easily find the alternative workers," Ratajczak says.

The law, passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, requires all public employers, contractors and subcontractors to verify social security numbers and immigration status of workers. Public employers, contractors and subcontractors with at least 500 employees have to adhere to the law starting July 1, 2007. Employers with at least 100 employees must comply beginning July 1, 2008, and all employers will have to adhere to the law by July 1, 2009.

Among other punishments, the law bars employers who pay more than $600 a year in wages to an unverified worker from claiming those wages as a tax-deductible business expense.

Most recent statistics from the Georgia Department of Labor show that there are about 217,400 construction workers in Georgia, who make an average $773 per week, about $24 per week above the average workers' salaries across all industries.

The costs of replacing whatever segment of those workers who are in the United States illegally would be considerable, Ratajczak estimates, because employers would have to pay for replacement searches, training and -- perhaps most important -- higher wages.

George would like the government to establish a federal guest-worker program that would legalize undocumented immigrants, arguing that such a system would be better for the job market than abruptly sending thousands or millions of people home.

President Bush has proposed such a program.

As Congress and other states consider other immigration measures, Scott Moore, a project manager at Humphries and Company, fears that inconsistent laws around the country will force illegal residents from state to state until they find one with the most liberal laws.

One law for all states, he says, "would be easier for the business community and contractors."

Should the new immigration laws produce an exodus of construction workers, Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond says his department is committed to assisting employers in finding legal and skilled replacements.

Thurmond, whose department will also be tasked with enforcing the new state law, suggests underutilized populations such as young black men and disabled people could help fill a gap in construction workers.