Illegal Immigration Enforcement Bills Pile Up in Georgia

February 3, 2011
ATLANTA, GA

"The question is a very simple one: do you want immigration reform or do you not want immigration reform?" asked State Senator Jack Murphy.

Sen. Murphy was joined by many other conservative Republican lawmakers as he introduced the second of two Arizona-style immigration laws at the State Capitol on Thursday.

His SB 40 closely mirrors the similar HB 87 already introduced in the State House by Rep. Matt Ramsey.

Both will allow local police to check the citizenship of anyone they arrest for another crime and would impose penalties on employers, both public and private, who don't check their workers' citizenship thorough the federal E-verify program.

With Georgia's illegal immigrant population ranked 7th in the nation, sponsors say it's past time for the state of Georgia to effectively stop illegals from taking jobs and tax benefits from Georgians and American citizens.

Hispanic, Asian and other minority groups are prepared to oppose what they call an attempt at racial profiling.

They also claim the E-verify system has errors and could wrongly target a few who are here legally.

Republican Governor Nathan Deal, who campaigned heavily against illegal immigration, admits the issue is not as simple as it seems.

He says state lawmakers should be considerate not to overstep their bounds.

"I don't want us to do something just for show," the governor said in response to the bills. "I want us to do what we as a state can legitimately do within its jurisdiction to be able to legally address these concerns."

Many worry about how a crackdown on illegal immigrants might affect the state's largest industry, agriculture, which brings in $65 billion a year.

Lawmakers are also considering bills that require an English-only driver's license test and keeping illegal immigrants from collecting any workers compensation benefits.

Rep. Ramsey's HB 87 will face its first hearing before the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee at the State Capitol on Friday morning.

Georgia is one of 18 states now considering immigration laws similar to Arizona's.

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