Thread: GA: State House Committee Passes Immigration Bill

State House Committee Passes Immigration Bill
Updated: 14 hrs ago

Posted By - The Associated Press

Last Updated On: 2/28/2011 11:43:21 AM

ATLANTA (AP) - A legislative committee has passed a bill that aims to crack down on illegal immigration in Georgia.

The legislation sponsored by state Rep. Matt Ramsey, a Peachtree City Republican, passed out of the House Judiciary Non-Civil committee easily Monday despite an attempt by Democrats on the committee to table the bill.

The proposed law will now move on to the House Rules committee, which would decide if and when it gets a full House vote. Ramsey says he hopes it will be up for a House vote this week.

Ramsey's bill would require all employers in the state with more than four employees to verify the immigration status of new hires. It would also make it a felony to present false documents or information when applying for a job.

http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.as ... yid=179972

SAME story posted here.
Only exception is a video report that says a vote on this bill could come before weeks end before the Georgia House

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/lo ... 0228-ap-sd

Illegal immigration bill passes key House panel

Chattanooga Times Free Press
March 1, 2011
By Jerry Redmon
ATLANTA, GA

Georgia has moved one step closer Monday to mounting an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration as a key legislative panel passed a 22-page bill targeting the illegal immigration problem.

Like Arizona's tough new law, House Bill 87 authorizes police to verify the immigration status of certain suspects. It also empowers police to detain these suspects and take them to jail if authorities determine they are in the country illegally.

Also, the newly revised bill penalizes people who "willfully and fraudulently" buy and use fake identification to get a job in Georgia.

Such people can be charged with a felony -- aggravated identity fraud -- and face up to 15 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines or both under the bill.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Matt Ramsey, of Peachtree City, said he hopes his bill could come before the House Rules Committee and then go to the House floor for a vote this week.

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, unsuccessfully sought for the committee to table Ramsey's bill Monday.

She complained it has "several constitutional and substantive impediments." And she warned it could lead to racial profiling, create a "fiscal nightmare" for government agencies facing lawsuits and damage the state's economy.

"I'm deeply concerned about the impact of this bill on the bottom line of this state at the time of an economic downturn," she told the committee.

Ramsey and others have complained illegal immigrants are sapping taxpayer-funded resources in Georgia. His bill includes language prohibiting police from using race and national origin while enforcing its provisions.

Similar legislation -- Senate Bill 40 -- is pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. That bill's author, Republican Sen. Jack Murphy of Cumming, pulled much of the teeth out of that legislation when he introduced a revised version last week. There are at least six other immigration-related bills pending in the Statehouse now.

Meanwhile, supporters of some of this legislation are seeking to pressure Gov. Nathan Deal to live up to his campaign promises and support bringing an Arizona-style law here.

Asked about the pending legislation in Georgia, Deal recently suggested there are limits on what the state legally can do concerning immigration, and he said he does not want to put an "undue burden" on employers who would have to comply with certain requirements in the bills, such as making sure employees are eligible to work in the United States.

A spokesman for Deal last week said the governor is committed to curbing illegal immigration in Georgia but is focused on other priorities now, including closing a gaping hole in the state budget.

On Monday, Ramsey said the new provision in his bill aimed at illegal immigrants using fake identification could serve as a deterrent.

"It is just another tool we are giving prosecutors," he told the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee on Monday before it approved his bill.

Called the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011, HB 87 also would punish certain people who knowingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants here. And it empowers people to sue local and state government officials who don't enforce existing state laws aimed at illegal immigration.

Ramsey's newly revised legislation gives state and local government officials up to 30 days to move into compliance with existing state laws targeting illegal immigration before someone could sue them for violations. The added 30-day "cure period" is meant to prevent frivolous lawsuits, he said.

Also Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a hearing on another immigration-related bill -- Senate Bill 27 -- to give the sponsor time to review a softer substitute version that has been introduced.

The substitute includes substantial changes to the original, which seeks to toughen existing laws aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from getting jobs in Georgia. The sponsor of SB 27, Republican Sen. Judson Hill of Marietta, said Monday he did not know who had introduced the substitute.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/En ... 51&start=1

Georgia House committee passes immigration bill
By KATE BRUMBACK - Associated Press


ATLANTA -- A state lawmaker hopes the House will vote soon on a bill to crack down on illegal immigration in Georgia, after a committee overcame an attempt by Democrats to table it Monday.

The legislation sponsored by state Rep. Matt Ramsey, a Peachtree City Republican, passed out of the House Judiciary Non-Civil committee and will now move on to the House Rules committee, which will decide if and when it gets a full House vote. Ramsey said he's hoping for a floor vote by the end of the week and said he's optimistic the bill will pass.

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, an Atlanta Democrat, moved unsuccessfully to table the bill in committee, saying it had "several constitutional and substantive impediments."

The bill would require all employers in Georgia with more than four employees to verify the immigration status of new hires using a federal database called E-Verify. Unlike a similar bill that is under consideration by a Senate committee, Ramsey's bill provides no exception for employers who use certain federal work visa programs to bring in foreign workers.

"I continue to believe that the notion of picking one industry to be exempt from requirements of mandatory E-Verify is bad policy," Ramsey said before the committee vote.

A new provision added late last week would make it a felony punishable by one to 15 years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000 to present false documentation or information when applying for a job.

Another change applies to law enforcement officers dealing with criminal suspects.The original version of the bill would have required law enforcement officers, when stopping a criminal suspect, to try to determine an individual's immigration status if an officer "develops reasonable suspicion" that the person is an illegal immigrant. The version that passed Monday removes the "reasonable suspicion" language and says officers "shall be authorized to seek to verify" a suspect's immigration status if the suspect is unable to provide an accepted form of identification.

Earlier versions provided for penalties for a person who harbors or transports an illegal immigrant. During public testimony a few weeks ago, several people raised concerns that this could end up penalizing churches or charitable groups.

The new version says penalties will apply only if the person, while committing another criminal offense, knowingly and willingly transports an illegal immigrant "for the purpose of furthering the illegal presence" of that person.

Ramsey acknowledged after the hearing that penalties would still apply to people doing church or charitable work if they were stopped for another reason - for example a traffic offense - and they were transporting a person they knew to be in the country illegally.

Abrams argued that the bill could harm the state's reputation and economic well-being.

"I'm deeply concerned about the impact of this bill on the bottom line of the state at a time of economic downturn," she said.

She also raised concerns about racial profiling - a common complaint from civil liberties groups about this and similar bills. Abrams also said she doubts that recently added provisions meant to protect officials from frivolous lawsuits were sufficient to shield cash-strapped local governments from having to spend money defending themselves.

Ramsey's bill allows individual citizens to bring a lawsuit against a local government or government agency if they believe the entity is not complying with the requirement to use E-Verify. In a version submitted to committee members over the weekend, Ramsey added what he called a "notice and cure period" to give entities that are unknowingly violating the requirements a chance to bring themselves into compliance before litigation could begin.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/02/28/1468081 ... z1FN5LTEp6

This just in from Dustin Inman Society

the Vote to Pass is Thursday. Phone calls are needed

added to the homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article-6124-thread-1-0.html

These people are depleting tax funded resources in the state of Ga like they are doing every where else and, all this woman can worry about is racial profiling. I'm sick of hearing that term being used. the only illegals that are playing the race card are the "HISPANICS/LATINOS". this is thier only defense and to me it is no defense at all. they are the largest group who are here illegally and, they are the ones making all of the noise. so to me, they are racial profiling themselves. if they would just leave on their own, then the states wouldn't have to pass these laws to get them to leave. we have all had enough of them being here draining resources that are not meant for them.