The debate concerning illegal immigration and how to deal with the issue appears to have arrived in Georgia.
Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City,) has submitted one piece of legislation aimed at illegal immigration in Georgia after months, years even, of the headlines being primarily in Arizona.
Under Ramsey’s proposal, employers across the state will be required to verify the residency status of all new job applicants to make sure only American citizens or properly documented aliens can be hired.
The “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011” is being sponsored by a number of House members and is the culmination of months of work by the Joint House and Senate Committee on Immigration Reform.
Barrow County’s Terry England, who represents the 108th district in the House of Representatives, told the Barrow Journal this week he has looked at Ramsey’s bill and likes most of what he has seen.
“We have a problem with illegal immigration here in Georgia and the demand on services that those here illegally require — whether education, health care or anything else,” Rep. England said. “I think it will require a few changes to make the bill practical to implement, but I do think it stands a great chance of passage. Many do not realize that Georgia is already the toughest state when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration. Arizona gets the spotlight most of the time, but for policy that is on the ground and working, we lead the nation with a bill passed back in 2006.”
Some of the highlights of Ramsey’s proposal include requiring the use of the federal E-Verify Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States and creating new requirements and parameters for verifying an individual’s eligibility to receive state and local government services and benefits.
“I do hear a fair amount from folks back in the district about illegal immigration,” England said. “I would say that right now, the economy probably takes the lead in what I am hearing from constituents about, though.”
Another portion of Ramsey’s proposal is to create new criminal offenses for the prosecution of those who knowingly induce, harbor or transport illegal immigrants.
“What we must all realize though is many employers may do all the required document checks, but if those documents are fake, the employer may not be able to know that,” said England, who runs a Barrow County business. “I think we need to make sure we are fair to employers caught in that situation. E-verify is in place and works for the most part, but it is not fool proof either. So if an employer does a good faith check following the law and it is later found during an audit that an employee has falsified documents, then the employee not the employer should be at blame.”
Overall, England said he believes the bill could be a reasonable response to the immigration issue.
“This is a federal issue,” he said. “However, the feds have neglected or refused to do anything about it forcing the hands of the states to do it on their own, just as many have. Some would argue this bill has some extremes in it — and it does — but I think some of those issues will be softened in the legislative process to make the entire bill fair to all involved.”
The proposal also calls for giving law enforcement officers — after a lawful motor vehicle stop — the ability to pursue a check of the individual’s citizenship status and act accordingly if the person does not have proper identification and if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is illegal.
