Ga. House votes crackdown on illegal workers

Billboards legislation squeezes through Ga. House

Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Dave Williams, Staff Writer
Date: Thursday, March 3, 2011, 3:42pm EST

All but the smallest businesses in Georgia would have to keep illegal immigrants off of their payrolls under Republican-backed legislation that passed the state House of Representatives Thursday.

The bill, which passed 113-56 virtually along party lines, would require companies with five or more employees to enroll in a Web-based federal verification system to check on the immigration status of new hires.

The General Assembly enacted an E-Verify enrollment mandate in 2006. But that law only applies to businesses seeking government contracts.

Expanding the state’s crackdown on hiring illegal workers to most other businesses is the only way to curb an illegal immigrant population in Georgia that has grown to 425,000, sixth highest in the country, Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, the bill’s chief sponsor, told his House colleagues.

“The root cause of illegal immigration is illegal employment,â€