Vol. 75/No. 11      March 21, 2011

Modeled on the Arizona law enacted last year, HB 87 would authorize state and local police to verify the immigration status of individuals in the course of any offense, including traffic stops, where there is “reasonable suspicion” to believe they may be undocumented, or where they cannot produce their documents.

It also provides additional incentives for localities to join federal programs aimed at undocumented immigrants such as 287(g) or “Secure Communities.” Under 287(g) the federal government deputizes local cops to enforce immigration laws. The Secure Communities program checks fingerprints of prisoners against FBI and Department of Homeland Security databases.

The bill would require private employers to use the E-Verify database to confirm immigration status and establish civil sanctions for noncompliance. The bill would also create criminal penalties for any individual who, while committing another criminal offense, encourages an undocumented person to come to Georgia or “transports or harbors” them once they arrive. It would also allow “legal” residents to sue any Georgia official or agency that was not enforcing provisions of the bill.

The Pew Hispanic Center has estimated that Georgia has 425,000 undocumented immigrants, the seventh-largest number among states.

Demonstrators denounced the measure as an “Arizona copycat law” and called on Gov. Nathan Deal to veto it.

Construction worker Miguel Martinez, originally from Mexico, held a handmade sign that read, “Governor Deal, Don’t Make Georgia an Anti-Immigrant State.” He told the Militant, “Everybody just comes here to work, for a better living. For one Hispanic who may do something wrong, they want to blame everyone.”

Victor Sosa, an auto-body worker from Honduras, said he and his two coworkers heard about the protest on the radio and came to join in because “this is wrong, we work hard.” His sign said, “HB87, An Excuse for Hate.”

Speakers from Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Black and Latino civil rights groups said the measure would turn Georgia into a “show-me-your papers state” reminiscent of slavery and Jim Crow times.

Other bills pending in the Georgia legislature would ban undocumented persons from attending state colleges and from collecting unemployment benefits and workers compensation. Another bill would require school and hospital officials to count the number of undocumented persons they serve.

HB87 now goes to the Georgia Senate. Another protest has been set for March 24.  
 
 
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