Musings on Immigration

As a business owner, one of your most important jobs is having the “right” person on board, in each of the specialty occupations in your business.   Whether it’s an office manager, billing coordinator, office or factory workers, or even landscaper, each position is integral to running an effective operation. It is also common knowledge, particularly in large cities, that getting the “right” staff can be almost impossible, given the dearth of applicants for many of these jobs.   Obviously, employers also want to ensure that all employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.   Starting July 1, 2013, the Georgia legislature wanted to ensure that all new hires for Georgia’s restaurant are, in fact, legally allowed to work.   Under current Georgia law (effective July 1, 2013) all Georgia employers with more than 10 employees on January 1 , are required to enroll in the federal E-Verify program. This new law will supposedly be enforced by requiring the...

          Employment Eligibility Verification or E-Verify is an internet-based US government controlled system to help employers verify the employment eligibility of new hires.   The E-Verification program works in conjunction with the current I-9 forms that must be completed for every new hire.   YOUR OBLIGATIONS UNDER GEORGIA LAW             Congress is considering legislation that would mandate E-Verification participation nationwide and may expand the program to an employer’s current employees (E-Verification prohibits the use of the program on current employees).   We will know more about this movement after the Presidential election.   The Georgia Legislature, in a fit of anti-immigration vitriol, jumped on the E-Verify bandwagon in 2011.  Though many larger employers in Georgia have already been subject to the new law (those with MORE than 100 employees) smaller, private employers in ...

Recently the Alabama Attorney General called on the Alabama State Legislature to repeal parts of Alabama's horrid anti-immigration law ( HB 56), because of the "unintended" consequences of the bill (frankly, what happened was not unintended). Because of the similarity between the two laws, Georgia's Speaker of the House, David Ralston was asked whether Georgia Legislature would repeal part or all of HB 87, Georgia own anti-immigration law. HB 87 has caused almost a half a billion dollars in damage to the Georgia economy (along with untold suffering in Georgia's immigrant communities) without any noted or reported positive effect. Speaker Ralston plainly stated that the Georgia Legislature would NOT do anything to repeal HB 87 . While it understandable why a politician would not admit that a pet bill he shepherded and pushed through the state legislature was simply bad law, it is also clear that Speaker Ralston is facing a challenge on his RIGHT in th...

The Georgia Attorney General just issued his Secure and Verifiable Document List , as required under HB-87, Georgia's Anti-Immigration Law. This list brings to mind the First Rule you need to know when a State passes an Anti-Immigration law. That rule is summarized in one word--"meaningless." That's right. The List, as written, is meaningless. The List changes NOTHING about Georgia law and how people can use documents in Georgia. The main reason that Rep. Matt Ramsey wanted this part of HB 87 in place was to stop the use by Mexicans of a document known as a " Matricula Consular ." The Matricula Consular is a secure document, issued after a lengthy process of identification verification by the Mexican Consulate. It is certainly as secure as a Georgia Driver's license. But, since it gave the impression, apparently, to Rep. Ramsey that people were using a Mexican ID documents to apply for benefits in the U.S. for their US Citizen children, he wanted it done...

The dust has settled and it appears clear that Governor Deal will sign HB 87. We are now left with the detritus of Rep. Matt Ramsey's "work" on the most anti-immigration bill passed by a state legislature in modern times. The question everyone is asking is "what does this mean for me?" Let's take a look at what the individual sections mean for the people, businesses and the economy of Georgia. As we prepare to bring litigation in Federal Court, the starting point for that litigation and the starting point for anyone who looks at this bill must be the title of the bill. It is called the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011." HB 87 then says that this bill contains the following actions: Provides penalties for the failure of a public employer to utilize E-Verify; Requires certain private employers to utilize E-Verify; Provides for the offense of aggravated identity fraud; Provides for the investigation of ...