Thread: GA. passed one of nation's toughest immigration laws

Georgia passes one of nation's toughest immigration laws

July 25, 2006 9:43 AM,
By Paul L. Hollis
Farm Press Editorial Staff

In its latest legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly passed one of the toughest immigration laws in the country, and many in agriculture have been concerned about the effects on an industry that has become increasingly dependent on migrant labor.

According to officials with the Georgia Farm Bureau, farmers are concerned not so much for what the bill actually does, but for what it might do in the future.

The bill includes provisions that prohibit business expense deductibility of labor costs for workers who cannot provide acceptable documents.

Farmers who depend on migrant labor are concerned that legal farm workers may decide to forego working in Georgia and instead go to neighboring states that don’t have similar laws.

Most state farm groups, including the Georgia Farm Bureau and the Georgia Agribusiness Council, have stated that the immigration issue should be handled at the national level by the federal government. But President Bush and Congress have yet to reach a compromise on such legislation.

In addition to penalizing those who hire undocumented workers, the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act also makes it more difficult for illegal immigrants to get access to social services. Most of the provisions of the new law will not go into effect until 2007 and 2008.

The Georgia Agribusiness Council, working with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office, has provided this summary of what the bill does and does not include:

1) The bill does not penalize farmers and employers who utilize laborers from properly documented labor crew leaders. The crew leader is responsible for verifying the status of his or her employees.

2) The bill does not include the proposed 5-percent tax on money wired out of the country by those without “adequate proof of United States citizenship.â€

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Let's Reform Our H-1B "Temporary Workers in Agriculture" Visa Program to make it like Canada's highly successful legal program for agricultural workers!

Petition your congressional representatives to reform our H-1B Temporary Workers in Agriculture program along the lines of Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Porgram (SAWP) - link below - which evidently has worked successfully for decades! Under SAWP, the Canadian government contracts directly with other foreign governments, primarily that of Mexico, for seasonal agricultural workers. The foreign governments themselves select the seasonal workers from their country who will participate in the program each year. Canada inspects the operations of the farmers before they certify them as qualified employers, and guarantees all the workers' labor rights and full payment of their wages in Canada. At the end of their employment, all the seasonal agricultural workers are transported directly back to their home countries. (by Air Canada, I think). Both Canadian planter/growers and the workers themselves are satisfied with the SAWP program, and the question of giving such workers resident status in Canada plays no part in it.

http://www.rhdcc-hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workpl ... _tfw.shtml