Thread: New Immigration Law is no Georgia Peach

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IMMIGRATION

In Georgia, Immigration Is No Peach
As one of the top destinations for Hispanics, the state is at the forefront of the controversy about a proposed law that would slam the door on undocumented workers


This week, Enrique Lopez watched his own city became ground zero in the battle over immigration in the United States. The 39-year-old owns a small grocery store in Atlanta, called Carniceria Durango. As debates over immigration policy raged in his state and in Washington, he saw students protesting in the streets of Atlanta and Hispanics staying home from work to demonstrate their importance to the local economy. Lopez, who grew up in Mexico and was once an illegal immigrant himself, closed his store and gave his employees a paid day off. "It was hard, you lose revenue," he says.

While immigration has proven to be a volatile issue nationally, there may be no place where it's as polarizing as Georgia. On one side is a large and relatively well-off community of immigrants like Lopez. Their success and rising demand for more workers has made Georgia one of the top new destinations for immigrants, particularly Hispanics.

On the other side are state politicians who are just beginning to wrestle with the challenges that California and Texas have been dealing with for years. They, and many of their constituents, worry that the influx of new people will drain the state's resources, for everything from education to unemployment benefits.

ACTING ALONE. The debate is coming to a head now because of a disconnect between Washington and state capitols like Atlanta. As the U.S. Senate is poised to consider a new immigration bill that would allow the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants the opportunity to win citizenship and create a broad temporary worker program, many state politicians are moving the opposite direction.

Fearful of the potential problems from growing illegal immigrant populations, they're taking immigration issues into their own hands. Among the 368 immigration-related bills that are pending in 42 states, Georgia's proposed Security and Immigration Compliance Act is perhaps the toughest and most prohibitive.

"We wanted to take a comprehensive approach," says Republican Georgia Senator and former talk show host Chip Rogers, who initially proposed the legislation. "We were concerned about social benefits, safety issues and employment issues," he said during a short break in the legislative session in Atlanta on Tuesday evening, after the state House of Representatives passed the version of the bill adopted by the state Senate on Monday. "I think we accomplished that by passing the most comprehensive immigration bill of any state."

CONTROVERSIAL BILL. The bill won't become law until it's signed by Governor Sonny Perdue, a step that he is expected to take. Yet it has already divided the state. There were demonstrations on Mar. 24 and the organizers plan more for April. Some state lawmakers are appalled at how punitive the proposed legislation is, for both employers and the illegal immigrants themselves.

"Any time a state tries to compensate for a failure of the federal government, you get into trouble," says Sam Zamarripa, a Democratic Senator from Atlanta, who voted against the bill. "The most dramatic impact of this law is that it is scaring people in the Hispanic community," according to Zamarripa.

The proposed law would require employers to maintain valid employment authorization documents for employees in order to claim a tax deduction for wages, and to verify the legal status of employees through a federal work authorization program if the business held contracts with state or local agencies.

THE "GOOD APPLES." Similarly, state agencies would be required to verify the immigration status of applicants before doling out benefits such as unemployment or Medicaid, although there are exceptions for emergency medical treatment and disaster relief among others. Eliminated was a proposed 5% surcharge on out of country wire transfers for those who could not prove valid citizenship status, but in its place, lawmakers substituted a 6% withholding of wages for contract workers without a valid taxpayer identification or social security number.

Lopez makes the argument that the law may simply be counterproductive. He understands the struggles of illegal immigrants intimately. He grew up in Durango, Mexico and entered the U. S. in 1981. He became an American citizen in 1986 when Congress passed the Reagan administration's Immigration Reform and Control Act. He points out that many illegals don't pay taxes out of fear of drawing attention to their immigration status. "The way to get rid of that is to legalize people," he says. Eventually, others would be able to start businesses and help the local economy by paying taxes and offering jobs.

In his grocery store, which caters to Hispanics, Lopez often hears customers complain about how they are perceived as outcasts by their non-Hispanic neighbors. But he also acknowledges some of the problems undocumented workers bring with them. "We got our good apples, and our bad apples," Lopez says, pointing out that just like other cultures and communities, there are those that commit crimes or do not pay taxes.

A GOVERNOR'S VIEW. Gov. Perdue felt that illegal immigration had become a problem his state, even before the Georgia law was proposed. According to his press secretary, Heather Hedrick, although Gov. Perdue continues to believe that immigration control should remain a federal responsibility, states still must closely guard eligibility for state-sponsored benefits. "People who are ineligible should not receive state benefits," she says.

Gov. Perdue will have 40 days from the end of the legislative session, which finished on Mar. 30, to veto the bill or sign it into law. Sen. Zamarripa has lobbied Gov. Perdue to delay signing the bill in hopes that the federal government will take action superceding the proposed reforms in Georgia.

Such measures would certainly have an impact on Georgia's economy. An estimated 200,000 to 250,000 illegal immigrants live in Georgia, according to a June 2005 Pew Hispanic Center study. Although not as high a percentage as in Texas or California, Georgia is considered one of the new destination states for Hispanics.

FINANCIAL REPERCUSSIONS. According to a 2005 study at the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, Georgia ranked 10th nationally in terms of Hispanic market size ($10.6 billion), and 3rd by rate of growth (696%) of Hispanic buying power between 1990 and 2005, making Georgia perhaps the most attractive Hispanic market for business in the nation because of exploding ranks and increasing wealth. Only North Carolina and Arkansas have higher growth rates in Hispanic buying power, and neither of those states is considering immigration bills related to state benefits, education, or employment, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Indeed, Hispanic advocacy groups say that state laws such as the one pending in Georgia fail to solve the problems with the immigration system and only serve to polarize the issue. "It sends the wrong message and unleashes an environment of division and hate," says Clarissa Martinez, Director of State Policy for the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Sara Gonzalez, President & CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce echoes those thoughts: "This sends and ugly message; it targets Latinos, telling them they are not welcome."

Still, some see a glimmer of hope in the proposed changes in Georgia, since the bill will not become law until signed by Gov. Perdue, and may be preempted by federal legislation. "This has been a wake up call for the Hispanic community," says Gonzalez. After detailing the problems she sees with Georgia's efforts at immigration reform, Martinez says with some element of hope, "we might now see an opening for a civilized debate."

Well, so many people are happy about the law here that re-election for those who supported it is virtually guaranteed!

It figures Business Week would print such a biased article. Notice that there are no quotes from our side.

"The way to get rid of that is to legalize people," he says. Eventually, others would be able to start businesses and help the local economy by paying taxes and offering jobs.

Right, as one illegal say`s to the other.

That is`nt all that would be started and this noncitizen knows it.

http://www.texasborderwatch.com/camview5.php