GA House Bill 87

A Summary of HB 87

News on HB 87

A Summary of HB 87:

Published: March 31, 2011

Here are key points in the illegal immigration bill (House Bill 87) targeting immigrants who are undocumented and those who assist them. Georgia legislators appear likely to pass this legislation in April.

The bill:

Creates a new criminal offense of aggravated identity fraud for anyone willfully using fraudulent documents to get a job.

    • A person under 21 would be punished by 1-3 years in prison and/or a fine up to $5,000. 
    • Those 21 and up would face minimally 1-10 years in jail and/or a fine up to $100,000. 

Empowers any peace officer with probable cause to believe a person has committed a criminal offense, including a traffic offense, to investigate their immigration status if they cannot produce valid identification and detain them if they are found to be in the country illegally.

States that a person’s race, color or country of origin is not to be a determinant in investigating their immigration status.

States that a person who contacts the police to report a crime, as a witness to a crime or victim of a crime will not have their status investigated.

Requires that when anyone is held in county or municipal jail for any reason, an effort is made to verify that they are in the country legally and if they are not in the country legally, immigration authorities will be notified and they will be subject to detention.

Creates a new criminal offense:

  • transporting or moving an illegal alien.

Creates a new criminal offense:

  • knowingly and intentionally inducing an illegal alien to enter Georgia. Penalties range from less than 1 year in jail and/or a fine to 1-5 years in jail and/or a fine.

Creates a new criminal offense:

    • concealing or harboring an illegal alien.
    • Harboring is defined to mean anything that substantially helps an illegal alien to remain in the United States. 
    • Exceptions are:
      • helping infants, children, a crime victim, in a medical emergency, or attorney-client representation.
      • Penalties mirror those for transporting an illegal alien.

Requires any private employer with 5 or more employees to use the federal E-Verify program to determine that any newly hired employee is in the country legally.

      • This will be effective July 2012 for employers of 100 or more and Dec. 31, 2012 for employers of 5 or more.
      • In order to receive a business license or renew a license, businesses will have to show they are registered with E-Verify. Violation of this will be a criminal offense.

Requires anyone applying to receive a public benefit to show via a secure and verifiable document that they are a legal resident and to swear and sign an affidavit to that effect.

      • By Aug. 1, 2011 the state attorney general website will have to provide a list of what are secure and verifiable identification documents.
      • As of January 2012, no public agency can accept anything other than this type of document.
      • Exceptions are provided for those providing emergency medical services, for those giving service to infants, children and victims of crimes, for a person reporting a crime or for those helping people to obtain a temporary protective order.

Authorizes any legal resident 21 and older to file a civil action against any official or agency to require enforcement of provisions of this law.

Authorizes the state attorney general to bring a civil action against any political entity in the state deemed not to be enforcing the code section.

States that no local body, including counties, municipalities, school districts, commissions or others, can adopt a sanctuary policy that would restrict local employees from cooperating with federal or other law enforcement officers on immigration status information while the local employee is performing official duties.

~Information from the Georgia Bulletin

For the most up-to-date version of H.B 87, see this link: http://aalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/AALAC-HB87-Fact-Sheet-Final.pdf

For a report on how GA H.B. 87 negatively impacts the GA and national economy, see this link: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/10/pdf/georgia_immigration.pdf

GA H.B. 87 News

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The Stewart Detention Center Reaping Billions in Benefits of Anti-immigrant Laws
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Posted on November 16, 2011 by

The Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, GA, happens to be largest detention center in the country.

It holds 2000 detainees, charging taxpayers up to $200 a night and producing yearly profits that hover between $35 and $50 million.

And the facility secures even MORE profit, through measures “that range from denying basic necessary services to detained immigrants to limiting access to their family members.”

“[The facility] charges inmates more than $5 a minute to make a phone call. To pay for this, inmates work in the facility and earn a whopping $1 a day. Five days of hard work gives them just enough time for a one minute phone call.

It is no wonder that private prisons have been instrumental in lobbying for anti-immigrant legislation, when these laws are allowing them to profit “close to $5 billion and their share prices are at an all-time high.”No Private Prison

Recent anti-immigration laws in Alabama (HB56) and Georgia (HB87) guarantee that neighbor facilities will have an influx of “product.” In the past few years, Correction Corporation of America has spent $14.8 million lobbying for anti-immigration laws to ensure they have continuous access to fresh inmates and keep their money racket going. In 2010, CEO Damon T. Hininger received $3,266,387 in total compensation.

This is going on right under our noses, and we, the taxpayers, are paying for it. In today’s economy, to have laws that are destroying our economy and further costing taxpayers millions of dollars for the deportation of hard-working immigrants we need, is beyond ridiculous.

To read more on this article, please click here.

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Posted in GA-HB 87, General Immigration, Issues, News | Tagged Alabama HB-56, anti-immigrant legislation, Correction Corporation of America, GA-HB 87, general immigration, immigration enforcement, Stewart Detention Center, undocumented immigrants, undocumented immigration | Leave a comment

HB 87 Re-examined by GA Senators
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Posted on November 16, 2011 by

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, several speakers presented their findings on the impact of HB 87 on the economy at a Senate Democratic Special Committee on Immigration and Georgia’s Economy. Georgia State Capitol

The committee heard from representatives of the restaurant industry and the state’s fruit and vegetable growers, as well as people who deal regularly with the state’s immigrant communities. The speakers said the state’s new law targeting illegal immigration is causing a labor shortage, harming the state’s economy and unfairly targets Latinos. Several said they’d like to see the law repealed.

Though Senator Thompson, chairman of the committee, said that a repeal of HB 87 is unlikely, he did say that there are other ways to render HB 87 useless, such as amending it drastically or pushing the political capitol towards federal immigration reform.

Charles Hall, who heads the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, said he continues to get comments from growers who say they don’t have enough workers. An informal survey conducted over the summer showed farmers of onions, watermelons and other hand-picked crops lacked more than 11,000 workers during their spring and summer harvest.

“We certainly don’t want to encourage illegal employment, but we also feel like there needs to be an adequate guest worker program,” he said.

Paul Bridges also spoke at the meeting.

“Please, let’s repeal HB 87 in its entirety. It is destroying Georgia’s economy and it is destroying the fabric of our social network in south Georgia,” said Paul Bridges, mayor of Uvalda, a small town in Vidalia onion country. He is part of a lawsuit challenging the new law.

The farmers in the area rely on immigrant labor, and many of their workers have families that are a mix of people in the country legally and illegally, he said.

To read more on this, click here.

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Posted in Event Reports, Events, GA-HB 87, Issues, News | Tagged Charles Hall, current events, economics, GA-HB 87, Georgia, Georgia H.B. 87, immigration, immigration news, immigration reform, news, Paul Bridges, politics, Senator Thompson, undocumented immigrants | Leave a comment

The Numbers Have Arrived: How GA HB 87 is Hurting the Economy
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Posted on November 11, 2011 by

According to this Center for American Progress report (that just came out in October), GA HB-87 is negatively impacting the economy in the following ways:

2011 losses

  • $300 million estimated loss in harvested crop statewide
  • $1 billion estimated in total economic impact on Georgia’s economy
  • Untold millions in losses to the economies of small towns and farmers dependent on immigrant labor

Future losses

  • $797 million loss per year in crop value across the state if Georgia replaced all of its handpicked crops with mechanized crops that do not require migrant labor
  • $1.2 million loss per year in crop value for the average small farmer if he or she replaced all of their handpicked crops with mechanized crops that do not require migrant labor
  • Untold millions in losses to the economies of small towns and farmers dependent on immigrant labor

According to this report, there are 4 main problems with the bill:

First, Georgia is already beginning to see a severe labor shortage from workers avoiding the state due to its immigration law. This shortage is likely to reverse a decades-long trend in which fruit and vegetable crops gained an increasing share of the state’s total farm value and enlarged Georgia’s agricultural sector.

Second, the effects of a lack of migrant labor will be felt most acutely by small farmers, who are already at a comparative disadvantage with larger growers. We estimate that the average small farm will lose $1.2 million per year in farm gate value by switching to machine-grown crops: a loss that will sink most small farms.

Third, Georgia’s economy is a complex and intertwined machine. Losses in the agricultural sector have a multiplier effect that resounds throughout the economy. A loss of close to $800 million per year in crop value to Georgia’s economy will signicantly increase unemployment and hurt the state as a whole.

Finally, just as changes in the agriculture sector affect Georgia as a whole, changes in Georgia’s ability to produce food affects the country as a whole. Losing hand- picked crops in Georgia such as berries, peaches, and onionswould force us to import these crops from other countries. This change leaves our food security, health, and safety standards in the hands of others. Similarly, food prices will increase with longer travel times.

If only the state legislators were listening to reason. Perhaps, the Nov. 15, public hearing in Atlanta, will change their mind.

To read more on this article, click here.

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Posted in GA-HB 87, Issues, News | Tagged agriculture, anti-immigrant law, anti-immigrant legislation, business, Center for American Progress, economics, farmers, GA-HB 87, Georgia, immigration, news, politics, undocumented immigrants | Leave a comment

Upcoming Event: Nov. 8 Rally to Repeal GA Board of Regents Policy 4.1.6
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Posted on November 7, 2011 by

 

The following is a re-post from the Georgia Students for Public Higher Education. Sign the petition below against unfair, anti-immigrant policies in our educational system. Spread the word.

They say cut back, we say FIGHT BACK!
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GEORGIA STUDENTS FOR PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION ACTION ALERT


Anti-immigrant policies are hitting the ground on Georgia’s campuses. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents’ Policy 4.1.6 bars any person without “proper documentation” from enrolling in the five most competitive public universities. The Regents’ heinous agenda of immigrant scapegoating and incessant tuition and fee hikes must be stopped–by US!
Georgia’s attack on its people is intensifying, from HB-87 to Troy Davis’ death to the active assault on Atlanta Occupiers. As concerned young peoples it is our duty to come together and respond swiftly and articulately.
This Tuesday, November 8th, Georgia Students for Public Higher Education, the Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance, and other area organizations under the banner of the “November Coalition,” will unite to demand the immediate repeal of Policy 4.1.6.


SIGN HERE and JOIN the DAY OF ACTION to LIFT THE BAN!


12:00PM - Rally at Georgia State courtyard; March to USG headquarters, 270 Washington St., SW, Atlanta, GA 30334

1:00PM - Press conference outside USG addressing impact of BOR Ban

1:30PM - Flood Regents Meeting

2:00PM  - Student reps of GUYA/GSPHE address Committee on Organization and Law, demand Regents lift Policy 4.1.6

The Regents continue to make harmful economic and political policies that attack students, immigrants, and their communities. We demand education, not segregation! We demand accessible and affordable, quality higher education for all; and will continue to fight for our libraries, our departments, our professors, our workers, our communities, and ourselves!

We stand in full solidarity with the International Student Movement and the ‘November Global Weeks of Action to Defend Education’, UC students protesting the UC Regents, and all people involved in the struggle for free and emancipatory education.

Solidarity Forever,
GSPHE

 

**Join the carpool from Athens!**

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Posted in Events, GA-HB 87, General Immigration, Issues, News, Petitions, Upcoming Events, Youth Laws | Tagged GA-HB 87, Georgia Board of Regents, Georgia Students for Public Higher Education, immigration, immigration news, news, petitions, politics, undocumented immigrant, undocumented students, undocumented youth | Leave a comment

Release of Undocumented Immigrants in GA
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Posted on November 6, 2011 by

This article is from August, but in the light of other stories of deportation we’ve heard of in the news recently, I wonder how Obama’s executive order is being interpreted. It seems we are a country very divided on this immigration issue, and perhaps that is how courts are proceeding to rule on individual cases of undocumented immigrants.

Homeland Security Department officials confirmed that Pedro Morales, 19, of Dalton and Luis “Ricky” Hernandez, 18, of Calhoun had been let out of the Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia and their cases dismissed…

Charles Kuck, the teens’ attorney, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement dropped efforts on Friday to deport Morales and Hernandez to Mexico after he argued they met some of the criteria in the guidelines: Both were brought to Georgia as young children, educated here and had not committed crimes other than being in the country illegally. Each was arrested last summer during traffic stops in Whitfield County, Kuck said.

For more on this article, click here.

 

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Posted in GA-HB 87, General Immigration, Issues, News | Tagged GA-HB 87, Georgia, ICE, immigration, immigration enforcement, immigration news, news, Obama, politics, secure communities, undocumented youth | Leave a comment
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