ATLANTA CONVENTIONS & VISITORS BUREAU OPPOSES IMMIGRATION BILL

In a rare statement, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau went on record Friday morning against Georgia’s stringent new immigration enforcement legislation over concerns that it could hurt the region’s $10 billion tourism industry. The vote was unanimous in the bureau’s executive committee passing a resolution against HB87 as “unwelcoming” and could “tarnish Atlanta’s reputation as one of America’s most welcoming cities.”
“The loss of potential revenues associated with conventions and tourism would have an adverse effect on Atlanta’s economy and the businesses and employees directly and indirectly associated with Atlanta’s hospitality industry,” the resolution says.
The Arizona tourism got hit pretty badly after the anti-immigration legislation passed there, and Atlanta stands to lose much more because a larger portion of its income is derived by tourism.

SHOULD GOV. DEAL SIGN IMMIGRATION BILL SUPPORTED BY KKK?

In an additional trial to add controversey and pressure Governor Deal to veto HB87, the nasty immigration bill that passed the Georgia legislature, a group out of Philadelphia arrived in Atlanta with street signs and rallies.
Signs like "KKK Supports HB87. Gov. Deal, Do You?" were seen around the metro Atlanta area before they were removed and their sponsor is "The Diversity Projekt".
I think racist remarks will not change the Governor's mind, but maybe additional business pressure. He wants to get reelected after all.

AILA SENDS LETTER TO GOVERNOR DEAL REQUESTING TO VETO IMMIGRATION BILL

The local Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), sent a letter to governor Deal urging him to veto the bill seeking to impose Arizona-type local state immigration laws. The letter includes statement about the bill’s unconstitutional intrusion into the exclusive province of federal law (which will require the State to seek to defend the constitutional preemption challenge that promptly will be filed in Federal Court), and the racial profiling that would be introduced into Georgia law (notwithstanding a flawed attempt to avoid this), there are other things to consider, including:
Unfunded state audit requirement of public employers to ensure they are complying with the E-Verify requirements.
The harboring section does not exempt immigration attorneys representing a person in removal proceedings (the only exemption is for criminal attorneys).
Unfunded Immigration Enforcement Review Board that establishes no requirements to ensure board members are in any way qualified or knowledgeable about immigration procedures.
There are many flawed issues within this bill, but I doubt the governor will veto it because he has such an anti-immigration record.

SAVANNAH AREA MCDONALD'S EMPLOYEES INDICTED ON CONSPIRACY TO SELL STOLEN IDENTITIES

The Federal government indicted Oscar Lazo, 51, a citizen of Peru; Eva Ramos, 35, a citizen of the United States; Mauricio Cruz, a citizen of Mexico; Manuel Cruz, a citizen of Mexico; and an unnamed defendant with conspiracy to sell the stolen identities of U.S. citizens. According to undercover investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE),the indictment alleges that beginning in July of 2010, Lazo and Ramos, both managers of a local McDonald's restaurant, sold stolen identities to other prospective McDonald's employees, including Mauricio Cruz and Manuel Cruz, who used the stolen identities to obtain employment with the restaurant. Lazo and Ramos were also charged with harboring illegal aliens. According to ICE, nine others were arrested administratively for being in violation of U.S. immigration law. If convicted on all counts, Lazo and Ramos face a maximum penalty of over 100 years in prison. If convicted on all the counts, Mauricio Cruz and Manuel Cruz face a maximum penalty of 37 years in prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Natalie Lee is prosecuting the case for the United States. While the crime itself is awful (if committed), this is a small example of how the Georgia anti-immigrant bill that passed does not cover incidents where people knowingly break the law. Mandating E-Verify on the employers would not cure these situations when identities of real people - American workers - are used to gain employment.

GEORGIA LEGISLATURE PASSES HB87

Last night the Georgia legislature passed HB 87, the Arizona anti-immigration copycat bill. The bill allows local police to investigate the immigration status of individuals and requires businesses to verify work eligibility of new hires through E-Verify. The legislature ignored the state's $1.3 billion budget shortfall, and the fact that the costs associated with the bill have not been enumerated by the state legislators. Even though the Arizona law passed, it has not been implemented and has been deemed unconstitutional, Arizona lost a whopping $490 million from lost tourism revenue plus $141 million from cancelled conferences, including a "quarter billion dollars in lost economic output," a projected $86 million in lost wages, 2,800 jobs over the next two to three years and more than $1 million that the state has already spent on legal fees defending it. Plans for an economic boycott of Georgia are also reportedly underway in a similar way to Arizona. Georgia stands to lose much more. The E-Verify requirement was stripped from the bill by the Senate on Monday, but the House put it back in on Tuesday. Last night, the Senate passed an amended version of bill (by a vote of 37-19), exempting businesses with 10 or fewer employers from the requirement, which the House then approved by a vote of 112-59. Governor Nathan Deal has indicated he will sign the bill despite public pressure and pleas from Georgia's business community, especially from the farming and restaurant industries. It is not surprising that he will not veto it because he has such an anti-immigrant track record in Congress. All Georgia businesses with more than 10 employees will have to now start using E-Verify unless injunctions will be issued on that ground. Businesses with more than 10 employees who wish to learn how this will affect them, please contact our office at 770-913-0800 or go to the Atlanta office webpage at: http://www.visalaw.com/atlanta.html. Law suits are sure to follow this legislature. Please also contact our office if you are an injured party (individual, business owner, association) who is interested to sue on this.

IMPENDING NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF GEORGIA SHOULD ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAW PASS

Local and national groups press Governor Deal to commit to veto Arizona-style anti-immigrant legislation in fear its passage will lead to national boycotts of Georgia (similar to the Arizona boycotts) from national organizations. A national network of organizations that coordinated the boycott in Arizona after the passage of its anti-immigrant law in 2009 has sent a letter to Governor Deal of Georgia notifying him of efforts underway to organize a national boycott of Georgia, in the event that Georgia’s Arizona copycat legislation HB 87 should become law. The National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON) and The Turning the Tide campaign sent the letter to the governor threatening to contact all conventions, organizations, companies, cities, counties, and states that participated in the Arizona boycott to advise them of the current status of Georgia’s legislation and tell them to be ready to change plans, divest, and/or issue travel alerts to avoid the state of Georgia. These anti-immigrant laws and consequent boycotts will have a devastating effect on Georgia's tourism and convention industry, one of the largest in Georgia. Other groups in support of the boycott include the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force. According to a recent New York Times report, Arizona had, less than six months after passage of the controversial anti-immigrant law, lost $45 million in convention revenue and stands to lose upwards of $750 million overall. If it stands, this legislation may cost Georgia a lot more because Georgia has more tourists and convention business than Arizona.

UNDOCUMENTED PROTESTERS WILL NOT BE DEPORTED

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have decided not to take action against seven demonstrators who disclosed they were in the country illegally before they were arrested on charges of blocking downtown Atlanta traffic during a protest last week against a ban on undocumented immigrants attending some Georgia public colleges. Prior to their arrest, the protesters had declared they were illegally in the country and spoke in favor of the DREAM Act, which would allow them a a path to legal status if they enrolled in college or joined the military. The seven activists were instructed to perform community service after police charged them with obstructing traffic and prohibited conduct during assembly. At least a bit of good news for a few undocumented immigrants in Georgia.