bizjournals.com
Atlanta Business Chronicle
by Dave Williams, Staff Writer
Date: Thursday, January 5, 2012, 11:28am EST

Georgia’s new illegal immigration law is costing farmers millions of dollars.

State Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black has documented that disturbing consequence of the Republican-controlled General Assembly’s crackdown in the form of a survey.

In a report released by the ag agency this week, more than 500 respondents said they lost about $10 million last year due to a shortage of farm workers resulting from the new law.

But Black pointed to a silver lining in the cloud during a news conference outlining the report’s findings.

He said if Georgia, Arizona and a handful of other states hadn’t decided to get tough with illegal immigrants, the need for Congress to overhaul the expensive, bureaucratic federal guestworker program wouldn’t be so glaring.

“I believe they’re finally understanding that people are fed up and want a solution,” he said.

Black said there’s no perfect measure before Congress, but he had good things to say about legislation introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah.

The bill would shift responsibility for managing the H-2A visa program from the U.S. Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an agency Black said has a greater understanding of farmers’ needs.

Black, a Republican, said there’s a good chance a federal overhaul of H-2A would win bipartisan support in Congress, as long as amnesty or a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants are not part of the measure.

No matter how sympathetic they are to the plight of farmers, most GOP lawmakers wouldn’t dare be seen as favoring citizenship for farm workers who break the law to enter this country.

Dave Williams covers Government

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