http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... legal.html

Fee on illegals' funds sought
House bill targets wire transfers home

By JIM THARPE, NANCY BADERTSCHER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/06

A proposal to charge illegal immigrants a fee for wiring money home and use the proceeds for indigent health care is scheduled to be debated today in the Georgia House.

The "Illegal Immigrant Fee Act" will be the first bill focusing on illegal immigration to be debated on the floor of either legislative chamber this session, even though more than a dozen bills — including a comprehensive Senate package — have been proposed.

The chief sponsor of House Bill 1238, Rep. Tom Rice (R-Norcross), said the plan was a way for illegal immigrants to pay back some of the costs they impose on the health care system. It would charge a 5 percent fee to people wiring money out of the country who cannot prove they are legally in the United States.

"It's an opportunity for them to contribute to an economy they use the services of," Rice said.

Critics, however, said the bill would drive more undocumented workers underground and harm U.S. companies. Some predicted it would not withstand legal scrutiny.

"You can't ask a segment of society to act as a collection agency for the state," said state Sen. Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta).

Immigrant workers in the United States sent $32 billion home to Latin American countries in 2004, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. Last year, $947 million was sent from Georgia — more than from any other Southeastern state except Florida.

Zamarripa, chairman of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, characterized the Rice's bill as a "wonderful, unrealistic one-liner for someone" and predicted it would fail in the Senate even if it passed the House.

"There's no end in sight to this stuff," he said of the immigration bills proposed by state lawmakers. "Everybody is trying to fix problems at the federal level by gerry-rigging things at the state level."

The state Senate next week is expected to consider a comprehensive proposal by Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) that would use the state income tax code to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. Rogers' five-part proposal, which also would deny state benefits to adults in the country illegally, is expected to be the major vehicle used by lawmakers this session to address illegal immigration.

Estimates on the number of illegal immigrants in Georgia range from 250,000 to 800,000. Estimates of their impact on social services, including health care, also vary widely.

Proponents of a crackdown say illegals sap critical resources from state programs and take jobs from legal residents. Critics of get-tough proposals say illegals take only jobs that nobody else wants and help underpin the economy.

Rice said the wire transfer industry caters to illegal immigrants. He said the average wire transfer is about $300.

The bill states that the intent is for the new fee to go to indigent health care, even though by law it cannot be so earmarked. Rice said he would expect lawmakers to respect that intent.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) said the bill was a "way to identify some funds to help our hospitals with indigent health care.

"This is a way to perhaps identify some resources that can be given back to the hospitals to offset their expenses."

However, the Hispanic and banking communities argue the plan would create problems, not solve them.

Sara Gonzalez, president and chief executive of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said illegal immigrants would just find another way to send money if fees became prohibitive.

"It doesn't make any sense to do this," she said. "There are too many parties in this country that benefit from people sending money."

Some predicted that if the proposal became law it could simply push the illegal immigrant economy even further underground.

"You will drive the market into informality," said Pedro De Vasconcelos, coordinator of the remittances program at the Inter-American Development Bank. Couriers can legally take up to $10,000 U.S. dollars in cash into another country, he said. If the cost of sending money via wire transfer increases too much, people will rely more on such couriers, he said.

"If this bill is designed to drive immigrants away, I don't think it'll be successful," said Drew Edwards, founder of El Banco de Nuestra Communidad, which has branches throughout metro Atlanta.

"It might push more of their money back out into the cash economy, which is not really where the government wants it," he said.

Ramon Alanis, regional manager in Atlanta for Autobuses Adame, a bus company that carries passengers to and from Mexico and provides money transfer services on the side, said such a law would be unfair and discriminatory.

"That money has already paid taxes," he said of funds that immigrants wire back to their home countries. "This discriminates because they know that those who use that type of business, the most are Hispanics."

Alanis said the fee on a transfer of $1,000 would be $50, considerably more than the $28 Adame charges to send that amount.

"It's a license to steal," he said.

Staff writers Mary Lou Pickel and Teresa Borden contributed to this article.