Organizations opposing House Bill 87, Georgia’s pending immigration reform bill, are planning a comprehensive boycott of tourism and in-state businesses if the bill is signed into law by Governor Deal.
“There are definitely discussions going on,” says Erik Voss, the Executive Director of the International Center of Atlanta, who has been part of meetings, but whose organization hasn’t officially taken a stance on whether it will support the boycott or not.
HB 87, known as the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011,” is similar to Arizona’s contentious SB 1070, which was signed into law last spring amidst massive rallies and protests.
Groups from around the country have sent letters to the Governor’s office requesting that he veto the bill, and warning of the consequences of signing the bill into law.
“A national network of organizations…has sent a letter to Governor Deal of Georgia notifying [him] of efforts underway to organize a national boycott of Georgia,” says a press release from Somos Georgia, a coalition of immigrants’ rights groups that opposes the legislation.
On April 6, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network sent Deal a letter saying “Organizers of the boycott are prepared to contact all conventions, organizations, companies, cities, counties, and states that are participating in the Arizona boycott, to advise them of the current status of the legislation and put them on notice regarding the pending Georgia boycott.”
On April 11, a coalition of groups dropped off petitions containing 23,000 signatures to the governor’s office. The signatures of those opposing the bill had been gathered in two weeks.
The governor’s office has downplayed the situation. When we asked if they had received correspondence opposing HB 87, Press Secretary Stephanie Mayfield responded to our email with a single sentence:
“Our constituent services department has not received any correspondence from the group below as of late.”
When asked to explain what group she was referring to, or to quantify “as of late,” we received no response.
A boycott of tourism, the state’s second largest industry, could have significant impacts. Nearly a quarter million people are employed by tourism-related industry, according to the state’s Department of Economic Development, and a reduction in visitors to the Peach State would affect private business and public sector budgets alike.
In Savannah, visitor spending in 2009 was more than $1.2 billion, of which 38 percent was lodging, 26 percent was food and beverage, and 17 percent was retail, according to data from the Savannah Chamber of Commerce.
Visitors also generate more than $12 million annually in hotel/motel tax revenue locally.
Fearing the economic outcomes of both negative national media attention and the potential boycott, the Atlanta City Council formally called for Gov. Deal not to sign the pending law. The Fulton County Commission also opposes the legislation, according to reports by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In Arizona the economic impact of SB 1070 was substantial, including $141 million in lost spending by conference attendees, thousands of lost jobs in the state, and $14.4 million in lost tax revenue, according to a study commissioned by the Center for American Progress.
“Georgia has a lot more at stake,” says Jerry Gonzalez, who heads the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
“Our tourism industry is much larger than Arizona’s, and it’s more widespread across the state.”
The economic stakes for Georgia are bigger than a tourism boycott, with some groups also discussing a boycott of in-state businesses like Delta, Home Depot and Coca-Cola.
“Home Depot didn’t take a position on the bill for or against,” said a representative for the company.
The bill’s opponents, however, argue that even if corporations didn’t support the legislation, their silence provided tacit consent, and their political clout would be sufficient to stop the legislation in its tracks.
Regardless of whether the boycott happens, or if its effects are felt by businesses or tourist destinations, Deal’s signature on HB 87 will cost the state millions of dollars.
Beyond the hypothetical impacts, the one certainty seems to be that taxpayers will absorb the cost of legal fees incurred by the state as it defends the law in court.
“There will be federal litigation as the next step of this process,” says Gonzalez. “There are very serious constitutional questions with this legislation.”
In Arizona, a federal court filed an injunction preventing implementation of several pieces of SB 1070. That ruling was upheld in appellate court recently.
In a year, Arizona has surpassed $1 million of spending on legal fees battling over the constitutionality of that state’s immigration reform measures, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
That same report found that the town of Hazleton, Penn., has already spent more than $2.8 million defending immigration enforcement ordinances it tried to pass last year.
When Georgia spends money on defending a bill that contains likely unconstitutional language intended to supersede the authorities of the federal government, it will come from a budget that has already seen more than $2.9 billion in cuts, including hundreds of millions in cuts to education.
While the state is paying for court costs, local governments will also be forced to figure out how to pay for increased administrative costs associated with new regulations they must comply with in order to maintain current levels of state funding.
Local governments who fail to file annual reports detailing compliance measures of public contractors and sub-contractors could be penalized with a ten percent cut in state funding.
The long term effects of the bill are unknown or ineffective in many aspects.
Last week, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black announced that the department would carry out a “truthful, thorough” study on the effects of the legislation to the state’s agriculture industry.
The study will be completed by January 1, 2012. The law takes effect on July 1, 2011 if it is signed by the governor.
Although immigration reform has been sold as salve for the lack of job creation in the state – once all the illegal immigrants are chased off, citizens can have their jobs (even if those jobs are some of the lowest paying and thankless) – Georgia’s bill likely won’t have the same “attrition through enforcement” affect on the job market that supporters of Arizona’s legislation celebrated.
While businesses with more than 10 full time employees will have to enact the E-Verify system to ensure legal status of all employees – or lose their business license in the state – only “future” employees will need to be screened.
In short, this means that the “illegal aliens” HB 87 wants to chase out of Georgia’s labor market won’t even be subject to the check.
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 3, 2011.
E-verify simply automates and provides a more efficient way to do what’s already required by the I-9 program. Open borders activists want us to believe it’s cruel, unfair and even illegal to send illegal aliens back to their home nations. It’s absurd to require another law to enforce existing laws. Everyone already knows enforcement of immigration laws will require the use of local law enforcement — even if the feds decide to help. Open borders folks hate the idea because democrats need the votes. We need this law.
LOOK OUT CALIFORNIA, NEVADA AND UTAH
The passage of immigration policing bills in Arizona, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, and Montana are displaying lawmakers have some guts. These are a passage of bills to stop the draining of American jobs, welfare payments and curtailing illegal immigration into these States. The most vulnerable States are the Sanctuary States of California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Utah in the Southwest. These States have not imposed E-Verify as the law and still on a voluntary basis; the merit going to Senator Harry Reid, who derailed it as mandatory. Thousands of economic illegal aliens are vanishing from the tough policing State of Arizona, moving to unprotected States allowing free public services, without cross-referencing verification of a person’s immigration status. Although E-verify is not strictly enforced in all states, as ICE audits are restraining many business entities from taking risk of hiring foreign nationals.
Not only is there a real risk of ICE sweeping down on different larger employers, as even lesser companies have become a target. Even more prevalent is the sudden emergence of “Whistleblowers” who see their jobs rapidly disappearing and intend to do something about it. Business owners need to be warned that most prudent workers are cautiously watching every move inside the store, office or any building. Defrauding the IRS of taxes by paying cash for work in construction, service industries by Contractors and Sub-Contractors are by far the largest culprits. Thousands of small companies have been driven out of their particular specialty, by their inequitable competition using illegal labor. Jobs that formerly went to the less educated Americans at the bottom of the ladder, has been stolen by illegal aliens.
Less trustworthy businesses saw they could make larger profits, as illegal immigrants were willing to take fewer wage, with no access to benefits. Business owners were well aware; they had no obligation to attribute Health Care, as their employees could just as well go to the emergency room, costing them zero under federal law. This is the same with all family members and relatives, leaving the hospital to swallow the costs, or inevitably the US taxpayer. Agricultural farm workers or Guest workers are in the same situation, where the business owners unload their human responsibilities on the nearest hospital, leaving the public with the financial burden.
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer signed HB 178 into law yesterday a bill that requires the MVD to electronically verify legal presence before issuing the State driver’s license or state identification card. The new law requires those applying for new licenses will have to show proof of legal presence in the United States. Out-of-state driver’s license cannot be used as proof. Montana will utilize (SAVE) Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlements program, which checks an applicant’s information against federal data bases.
Five days ago the Indiana House and both Alabama chambers approved E-Verify legislation, which would require businesses in their states to implement E-Verify. The bill approved in Indiana is significantly stronger than Alabama’s, but both laws require most employers to check new hires through the E-Verify system. Senate Bill 590 now requires most employers to verify the citizenship status of their employees through the federal E-Verify program, and mandates state and local governments ensure illegal immigrants are not receiving welfare benefits, but it stripped out Senate-passed language that authorized local police officers to check the immigration status of individuals they suspected of being in the country illegally. In Montgomery, Alabama last Friday evening both the House and Senate passed bills allow police officers to check immigration status, but the provisions on E-Verify have a significant difference. The House-passed bill requires businesses with at least 25 employees to use E-Verify, but the Senate-passed bill only requires businesses that contract with the state or receive grants from the state to use E-Verify.
Another bill that would extend in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens was defeated Monday in the Colorado State House Education Committee. The bill, SB 126, was passed by the Senate before being defeated, 7-to-6, in the House committee. It’s the fifth time the bill has failed in the State Legislature. The Republican-led committee argued that passing SB 126 would encourage future illegal immigration and provide a false hope for illegal alien students who would be ineligible to work in the United States after graduation.
Illegal Immigration is not free to anybody. Annually it costs billions of dollars to every US taxpayer. In this unsettled period of America’s financial downturn, we must care for our own people, not the poverty of other countries. There is no excuse for either political party not enforcing our border, nor making the E-verify program permanent for every business nationwide. Federal judges are too lenient with companies who break our laws and should be dealt with fines, asset confiscation and major prison. The TEA PARTY will make enforcement of immigration laws, one of the top issues in future elections. Chain Migration will be eliminated and no form of Immigration Reform, better interpreted as amnesty will be tolerated. Almost every city or community throughout the United States has a TEA PARTY, so locate to join.
Illegal Immigration is not free to anybody. Annually it costs billions of dollars to every US taxpayer. In this unsettled period of America’s financial downturn, we must care for our own people, not the poverty of other countries. There is no excuse for either political party not enforcing our border, nor making the E-verify program permanent for every business nationwide. Federal judges are too lenient with companies who break our laws and should be dealt with fines, asset confiscation and major prison. The TEA PARTY will make enforcement of immigration laws, one of the top issues in future elections. Chain Migration will be eliminated and no form of Immigration Reform, better interpreted as amnesty will be tolerated. Almost every city or community throughout the United States has a TEA PARTY, so locate to join. The management of both political parties has brought the American people much misery and turmoil, including allowing Communist China to use unfair trade practices to get the upper hand. A 14 trillion dollars US deficit is no laughing matter, that we are no longer the lender of money, but the universal debtor. As the American dollar gets weaker, so gasoline will spiral. As we have seen the TEA PARTY has lost no time, in cutting billions, but if more people get together under this moderate Conservatism, we can drag out the big spenders in Government.
Attn: Stop this insaneness from the environmentalists in placing some elusive Texas “Sagebrush lizard” being placed on the endangered Species list. When gas prices are raising towards $6.00 is beyond incomprehension that Lizards, frogs and other wild animals come before humans. Rehabilitate these different species to some other part of Texas wilderness as we need oil, more than we need these creatures. Instead the environmentalist grieving about some insect, bird, animal or wild thing, get their friends together and begin cleaning up the mounds of garbage left by illegal aliens drudging through the border regions for years. Animals are getting their paws and wings caught in plastic bottle ties, and dying amongst the heaps of effluence
The undocumented immigrants are a drain on no one–get your facts straight and stop the fear mongering–every independent audit proves that they are paying millions more into our state and federal governments than they will ever receive back in services, etc. Plus they contribute richly to our culture and family values. White people have to stop complaining and scapegoating others–note that their usual targets are black and brown skinned people–and begin to work together with all people in a spirit of oneness to solve their problems. The Tea Party is bought and sold just like the other parties–the whole system is corrupt when it pits one group of people against another and doles out crumbs to them to fight over. Wake up! The new immigrants are not going anywhere, and will make a way here just as the old “illgegal” Italian, Irish, German immigrants (learn history before you repeat it). Remember, just a little while ago much of this country relegated blacks to less than human status after we couldn’t enslave them anymore. Wake up–the greatness of this country is its diversity and it is meant to be black, brown, white, Asian, red, etc. and nothing will stop that.
Oh brother! This ‘Brittanicus’ guy is just using scare-tactics with lofty words, un-cited statistics and a unrealistic agenda… what a joke! Please take your Virtual Guerrilla tactics elsewhere. The truth is spelled out in the fact that neither political party has it right. I am not for illegal immigration, but commonsense has it that that the US has brought this upon itself. The issue has escalated out of control during the last 20+ years because political leaders kept putting it off. All the while, they ‘unknowingly’ made use of and benefited from the cheap labor. The workers then established themselves, families flourished and it became a ‘trend’, if you will, once the word got around. Do you really think that at the first events of this ‘illegal immigration’ the issue wasn’t minute enough to pose a dramatic halt or control to it? Give me a break! USA – the ‘most powerful nation in the world’ and yet suffering from the mistakes and selfishness of the few political leaders. The people responsible for this xenophobic rant which we call the ‘illegal immigration debate’ are the very same selfish members of the political ruling class of American society. Nonetheless, there is no easy answer or solution for this ‘issue’. When politicians (both parties alike) say ‘secure the border’ it is a scapegoat for the fact that they still do not want to put forth the effort to fix the broken immigration system. The system is BROKEN! It doesn’t work now and it won’t be fixed with xenophobic legislation. The fact is the US has dug itself into a deep hole in the ground, and now these politicians think they can pull themselves out of it by the roots which now dangle above their heads. The language that seems patriotic is ironically not patriotically fueled. The patriotism which flows through the roots of America is not based on xenophobia, it is based on opportunity. This is what patriotism is. Seeing the opportunities around you and using them to truly provide for the country you love. This is what has been done in the past (although it has taken many regrettable forms, i.e. massacre of the natives, slavery, etc…) I don’t think that America wants to repeat its unfortunate past of mistreating or ridding itself of the good, resourceful human beings which have come to find themselves on the land which she claims. Come on people… react! Get rid of the TRUE criminals. Drug-dealers, convicts, terrorists, (and even the wealthy who treat themselves to the poor), etc… But don’t make the mistake of getting rid of brilliant people who despite their shortcomings have managed to make something of themselves. Don’t use mindless deportation as a means to rid the US of a viable workforce and powerful assets. A percentage of these people (some call illegals) are able to contribute to making the US the true example of a successful nation founded on the breath of opportunity.
(cont’d)…Much more can be said, but I leave your judgment to commonsense. Unfortunately, the irony of commonsense is that it is not so common after all.
Pilgrim & commonsense, would you open the border to every nation or just to Mexico? You don’t think anyone actually believes illegal immigration is good for the nation, do you? And you don’t really think anyone believes they contribute more than they take, do you? Right. That would be stupid.