Posted on Thu, Mar. 29, 2007
Pro-immigrant activists lobby against pending immigration bills

GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO
Associated Press

ATLANTA - A handful of pro-immigrant activists lobbied at the Capitol Thursday morning against a smattering of bills aimed at cracking down on those in the country illegally, a marked contrast from the massive street demonstrations that accompanied the state's sweeping immigration legislation last year.

"We need to show our presence, our worry in continuing with policies that have grave consequences," said Adelina Nicholls, one of organizers of last spring's marches and boycotts who went to the Capitol to rally support against the new proposals.

The activists' main target is a bill, which the Senate approved last month, that would boost the penalties for driving without a license to imprisonment ranging from at least two days on the first offense to at least one year on the third one. Authorities would also have to check the immigration status of those arrested for driving without a license.

"We're creating criminals," said Teodoro Maus, another activist and former Mexican consul in Atlanta, adding that the state shouldn't make immigrants felons for not having a license when they can't have one unless they can prove they're here legally.

Like a similar bill, also approved by the Senate, that would require almost all Georgia residents to obtain a valid state driver's license before they can pick up a tag for their car, the legislation doesn't directly mention illegal immigrants. But both sponsors and opponents see it as making it more difficult for them to get behind the wheel and, ultimately, to work and live in the state.

Applicants for a Georgia driver's license already have to prove they are in the country legally. Not all states have those requirements, however, and currently, those who say they are new to Georgia can obtain a tag using driver's licenses from another state or U.S. territory as well from Canada.

Activists say this flurry of bills, now pending in the House with a few days left before the end of the session, puts Georgia again at the forefront of states toughening their stance against illegal immigration without waiting for federal reform.

Last year's law, which made international headlines, included provisions to sanction employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and deny some state services to adults who can't verify that they're in the country legally.

Most of those provisions are going into effect this July, though it's unclear how they would be affected if Congress passed an immigration reform. Some activists say that the immigrant community is too afraid about the upcoming implementation of the Georgia law to take to the streets.

"Now they need protection," Maus said.

Among other bills introduced this year, one would require residents to show that they are U.S. citizens when registering to vote. Another would establish that notaries - often consulted in the Hispanic community for immigration advice - must be legal U.S. residents.

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