Georgia Panel Will Investigate Public Employees Who Fail to Enforce Immigration Law
By Elizabeth Llorente

Published July 21, 2011

| Fox News Latino

State and local officials in Georgia who fail to enforce the new immigration laws could be hit with up to $5,000 in fines, and their agencies could lose funding, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The penalties would take effect once the state sets up a seven-member panel that would will have broad authority to investigate complaints about the failure of an agency or public employee to check immigration status when processing applications for certain benefits, such as food stamps and business licenses, the newspaper said.

The panel is called the Immigration Enforcement Review Board, and is a requirement of Georgia’s law, House Bill 87, that seeks to crack down on undocumented immigrants in the state.


Alexandra Leon, 6, of Atlanta, center, attends a rally against a proposed Arizona-style immigration bill Monday, April 11, 2011 outside the State Capitol in Atlanta. Activist groups delivered a petition Monday Gov. Nathan Deal to urge him to veto the bill that aims to crack down on illegal immigration. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Several weeks ago, a federal judge in Atlanta blocked parts the law, including one that called for penalizing people who transport or harbor undocumented immigrants. The judge took the action in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups challenging the constitutionality of Georgia’s law.

But some parts took effect on July 1; others are scheduled to go into effect in January.

Georgia is one of several states that have passed laws aimed at discouraging undocumented immigrants from settling within their borders. The ACLU, along with other groups, has challenged each state’s law, saying that immigration is a federal matter.

Some 11 million undocumented immigrants are believed to be living in the United States; about 425,000 live in Georgia, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

“It’s costing us millions of dollars to have illegals in our country,â€