Portions of Gov. Deal's HB 87 Blocked

Loganville-Grayson, GA Patch

According to the civil action file, section 8 of the bill “authorizes Georgia law enforcement officers to investigate the immigration status of criminal suspects where the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect committed another criminal offense.”   

If an immigrant does not have proper documentation on him, the police officer would have been able to detain him and place him in jail, or report him to the Department of Homeland Security.   

That section was blocked.   

Additionally, section 7, which would penalize anyone “transporting, moving, concealing or harboring illegal aliens,” was blocked. A fine of up to $250,000 would have been imposed. 

You can read the civil suit in its entirety here.    

NPR

 "The defendants wildly exaggerate the scope of the federal crime of harboring under (the law) when they claim that the Plaintiffs are violating federal immigration law by giving rides to their friends and neighbors who are illegal aliens," he said. 

The judge was especially critical of that provision, blasting the state's assertion that federal immigration enforcement is "passive." Thrash noted that federal immigration officers remove more than 900 foreign citizens from the country on an average day. 

He also wrote that the state measure would overstep the enforcement boundaries established by federal law. Thrash noted that there are thousands of illegal immigrants in Georgia because of the "insatiable demand in decades gone by for cheap labor" in the agriculture and construction industries. But he said the federal government gives priority to prosecuting and removing illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.

 The entire bill, which goes into effect on July 1, hasn't been blocked just these portions. The section of the bill that makes it a felony to provide false information on a job application will still go into effect. Even still this is very positive news. I'm proud of U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. for doing what is right and just. There still is a long road ahead however. If you want to help overturn HB 87 there will be protests on July 1st and 2nd. Not perfect, but I can't deny that this is great news for immigrants in the state of Georgia.

                                                                                                                                                

Cutting Off the Nose to Smite the Face

Crop Losses Could Top $1B - GPB

An agriculture industry group estimates a shortage of migrant labor may wind up costing Georgia fruit and vegetable farmers $300 million in crop losses. Officials worry the total economic impact will be even greater if crops from the next harvest are lost. 

The Georgia Agribusiness Council estimates the total loss stemming from spoiled and unpicked produce to be close to $1 billion.

Georgia is paying a high price for the near-sighted bigotry of its legislators. While the Republicans representing the suburbs around Atlanta and Augusta rode the immigrant hate-train long enough to pass House Bill 87, they completely ignored the engine that drives much of Georgia's economy: agriculture. Anyone who has ever driven through the state of Georgia knows that agriculture dominates much of the state. Being a resident of Georgia since 1998 I've learned this. Peanuts, Pecans, Peaches, Cotton, Timber, and Poultry are multi-million dollar industries in this state. For better or for worse, all of these industries are reliant on cheap immigrant labor; labor that is rapidly fleeing the state. Quickly realizing the bind he's created for farmers, Governor Nathan Deal is scrambling for solutions. He's ordered that probationers be sent out into the fields to pick crops; a plan that has failed miserably.

I'll never understand why our beloved legislature decided to pursue such an economically crippling bill during a time where Georgia faces 10% unemployment. Then again this is a state where in the year 2011, you still can't buy a can of beer or a bottle of wine on Sundays. It's the South, where the people have more disconnects than AT&T. I've grown accustomed to the backwardness of its politics. But when there's an issue like this that affects me directly, it gets irritating. As a result of this bill immigrants will flee the state, food prices will rise, farmers will struggle, and investment will look elsewhere, probably to more friendly states such as Florida. A state and region that has worked hard to escape its dark racial past is once again being dragged back into the darkness. It's up to the good people of Georgia, Alabama, Arizona and the rest of the United States to once again stand up for what's right, and force our leaders to do the right thing. Immigrants are people not aliens, and its time we start treating them like that.