Thread: Farmers, restaurant owners say Georgia immigration law hurti

Farmers, restaurant owners say Georgia immigration law hurting business
Restaurateurs and farmers say they can't find qualified workers

jacksonville.com
By Walter C. Jones
Posted: November 15, 2011 - 7:38pm

ATLANTA | Georgia’s law against illegal immigration is hurting restaurants and farmers by creating a labor shortage that results in lower sales, witnesses told a hearing Tuesday held by Senate Democrats.

Nearly three of every four eateries surveyed by the Georgia Restaurant Association complained that qualified workers weren’t available, and 22 percent said applications for available jobs were down. Just 2 percent said they rely on the Department of Labor for new hires.

“People applying for jobs just aren’t qualified,â€

Ga. immigration law upsets restaurants, farmers

ATLANTA — A Democratic state senator said Tuesday Georgia legislators need to focus on pressing federal lawmakers to tackle immigration reform rather than passing more state-level measures or toughening the state's new law.

"The goal shouldn't be to make this law stricter," Sen. Curt Thompson of Tucker said. "We need to use our political capital to get immigration reform started at the federal level."

Thompson's comments came after a public briefing held by the Senate Democratic Special Committee on Immigration and Georgia's Economy to examine the effects of the state's new law, many parts of which took effect in July. Some parts are set to take effect Jan. 1, while others have been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

The committee heard from representatives of the restaurant industry and the state's fruit and vegetable growers, as well as people who deal regularly with the state's immigrant communities. The speakers said the state's new law targeting illegal immigration is causing a labor shortage, harming the state's economy and unfairly targets Latinos. Several said they'd like to see the law repealed.

"Please, let's repeal HB 87 in its entirety. It is destroying Georgia's economy and it is destroying the fabric of our social network in south Georgia," said Paul Bridges, mayor of Uvalda, a small town in Vidalia onion country. He is part of a lawsuit challenging the new law.

The farmers in the area rely on immigrant labor, and many of their workers have families that are a mix of people in the country legally and illegally, he said.

Thompson said repeal is unlikely.

"The political reality is that the environment to repeal HB 87 does not exist," he said, adding he'd like to see some tweaks to the new law.

One part of the law that has taken effect makes it a felony to present false documents or information when applying for a job. Another part that will be phased in starting Jan. 1 requires many employers to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of new hires.

Karen Bremer, executive director of the Georgia Restaurant Association, told lawmakers that a survey of about 500 restaurant owners in late October and early November showed a labor shortage that she said was caused by immigrant workers leaving the state following the passage of the law. Despite high unemployment in the state, restaurant owners have not been able to find anyone to fill the jobs.

Charles Hall, who heads the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, said he continues to get comments from growers who say they don't have enough workers. An informal survey conducted over the summer showed farmers of onions, watermelons and other hand-picked crops lacked more than 11,000 workers during their spring and summer harvest.

"We certainly don't want to encourage illegal employment, but we also feel like there needs to be an adequate guest worker program," he said.

Among the provisions of the new law is one that instructs the state agriculture department to study the effects of immigration on the agriculture sector. It also instructs the department to suggest changes to a federal guest worker program that farmers have complained is too burdensome and to look into the possibility of a state guest worker program. The study and suggestions are due by Jan. 1.

Sen. Doug Stoner of Smyrna repeatedly suggested that the law's backers didn't do enough research before enacting the law.

"We have a tendency in this state to pass laws without understanding the cost of those laws, particularly to businesses," he said.

The law's author, Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, has repeatedly said that he did extensive research, heard from many people at legislative committee meetings and had an open-door policy for anyone who wanted to give him input as he was crafting the law

http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2011 ... ts-farmers

I worked my way through college first as a busboy then as a waiter.

The staff had maybe 15 to 20% career workers. The rest of the staff constantly turned over as American youths did the job as a stepping stone to afford moving up.

That's the way the business worked.

"“People applying for jobs just aren’t qualified,â€