GA SENATE APPROVES BILL AGAINST NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING DRIVERS

A bill sponsored by State Senator Jack Murphy (R) just passed the Georgia Senate this week, which would make English the only language that someone can use to get a license. Currently, the Georgia driver's license exam can be taken in 13 languages.
Murphy, the chairman of the Public Safety Committee used the excuse of a "safety issue" stating that driver's that can't read road signs pose a danger to everyone. However, no data or evidence was provided to support this claim. People who speak a foreign language are competent in understanding the road signs, same as illiterate people. The only difference is in taking the exam and answering questions in English to sentences that they do not understand, not failure to recognize road signs.
As critics rightly point out, the bill is anti-immigrant and could stunt economic development. The critics, who call it the "Kia Go Home Bill", tie it to the Korean automaker that opened up a manufacturing plant in Georgia with a billion dollars investment, and has a sizable Korean workforce.
SB67 was actually proposed during the last legislative session but did not pass. During a surprise resurgence of this bill, without putting it on the calendar, Murphy succeeded in back dooring these amendments.
The bill only affects permanent residents and exempt temporary license seekers. The bill does not account for illiterate Georgians. If permanent residents who legally reside in the country indefinitely cannot pass the driver's license test, the reality of the situation is that many will drive without a license, thereby not being able to obtain insurance, and will pose a greater risk to all Georgians driving on the road. I sincerely hope the governor will veto the bill, although I doubt it based on his personal history.

PROPOSED BILL TO REQUIRE ALL BUSINESSES TO USE E-VERIFY

A new bill proposed by Rep. Bobby Reese wants to mount additional cumbersome requirements on all businesses in Georgia by requiring all of them to participate in the E-Verify program administered by DHS.
The bill, House Bill 1259, known as The Georgia Employer and Worker Protection Act of 2010, was suggested under guise of protecting American workers. I doubt that is the true intention behind the bill, but even if it is, will do very little, if any, to protect American workers, while increasing paperwork and administration burden and costs on employers.
It was recently reported that the E-Verify system is still wrought with inaccuracies, up to 54% of the time when dealing with legal employees (such as U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents). When such a person gets a negative hit, they may be rejected employment or run around between different government agencies (such as the Social Security Administration) to figure out where the mistake is. Under current conditions, it is more likely that a lawful person will be rejected from employment than someone without authorization to be accepted to work.
It is ironic that the Republicans, who are supposed to be advocating for free business and less government intervention, are actually acting contrary to those fundamental beliefs when it comes to immigration.

COBB COUNTY COURTHOUSE INCIDENT - POSSIBLE GRAND JURY PROBE?

Cobb County Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna) has asked Cobb county and federal prosecutors (U.S. attorney) to open a grand jury investigation into allegations that undocumented workers were employed at the construction site of the Cobb County Superior Courthouse.

Lots of hoopla and written requests for grand jury investigation by this Democrat, who is running for Attorney General against a Republican, and probably wants to seem tough on immigration enforcement in order to obtain the support of some voters and groups.

Why isn't such a big deal made in the news about the serious crimes?

COBB COUNTY USED UNDOCUMENTED SUBCONTRACTORS IN COURTHOUSE PROJECT

The irony is now on Cobb County, GA, one of the most anti-immigrant counties in the state, and one of the first to implement 287(g). It appears that one of the sub-contractors used on a project to build the new $63 Million Cobb County Courthouse has been found to employ undocumented workers.
The state law (SB 529), which requires companies and contractors for the Georgia government to utilize E-Verify does not apply to sub-sub contractors or indirect contractors.
According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Cobb County Chairman Sam Olens stated that they followed the law and that they also asked federal immigration officials to investigate the matter, whether anyone should be criminally prosecuted.
Lots of noise is generated by Cobb County, probably to divert from the fact that the joke is on them.

MOST IMMIGRATION DETAINEES IN GWINNETT DETAINED FOR DRIVING OFFENSES

A short time after Gwinnett county started to implement its 287(g) program, the Gwinnett Daily Post reports the following statistics regarding its detainees on immigration charges:
• 178 driver’s license charges
• 62 DUIs
• 58 felony drug charges
• 15 aggravated assaults
• 13 sex crimes
• 45 batteries
• 23 robberies and burglaries
While there are other "miscellaneous" charges for the immigrant detainees, it is clear from the list above that the vast majority of these detainees are detained for minor driving offenses and not for real crimes.
287(g) was intended to target serious criminal offenses, not to deport immigrants for minor traffic offenses, such as driving without a license or speeding. I doubt that the Gwinnett police department doesn't have more serious criminals to go after.

GEORGIA COUNTIES NOW REQUIRE CITIZENSHIP AFFIDAVIT TO GET BUSINESS LICENSE

According to the new law which took effect on January 1, an owner or manager of a business must now file a notarized affidavit stating that he or she is a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident in order to get a business license. Apparently, many citizens are calling the various finance departments inquiring about this. The immigration status is verified with the federal database. This is yet another example or an idiotic legislative burdening the vast majority of U.S. citizen business owners in Georgia using the excuse of immigration compliance. What a waste of resources.

NEW GA LAW TO MANDATE IMMIGRATION STATUS CHECK FOR BENEFITS

House Bill 2, sponsored by Rep. Tom Rice, R-Norcross, clarifies and adds some enforcement provisions to Georgia's 2006 immigration reform act (called the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act). According to this law, all governments and official agencies in the state and their contractors have to use the "E-Verify" system to verify new hires eligibility to work. It also requires all local governments and agencies that administer public benefits to collect a sworn affidavit and use a federal database - the "SAVE" program - administered by DHS - to verify the eligibility of all applicants for those benefits. Last year House Bill 2 was passed because many of its applications were considered optional. The law now mandates to obey the first one. How this measure will curb illegal immigration is beyond my understanding, but at least our legislators here are keeping themselves legislating.