Gov. Nathan Deal on Friday signed one of the nation’s toughest immigration enforcement measures into law amid threats of court challenges and economic boycotts targeting Georgia.

Partly patterned after a stringent law Arizona enacted last year, Georgia’s House Bill 87 empowers police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects. The measure also sets new hiring requirements for employers and penalizes people who transport or harbor illegal immigrants here.

Deal, who campaigned for governor last year on bringing an Arizona-style law to Georgia, called his signature on HB 87 an historic moment.

"While I believe immigration is an issue that... should be addressed at the federal level," he told reporters, "this legislation I believe is a responsible step forward in the absence of federal action."

Deal and other supporters of HB 87 have hailed it as a victory for taxpayers who have borne the cost of illegal immigration in Georgia. A recent estimate by the Pew Hispanic Center puts the number of illegal immigrants in Georgia at 425,000, the seventh-highest among the states. Those illegal immigrants, supporters of HB 87 say, are taking jobs from state residents and burdening Georgia’s public schools, hospitals and jails.

...
“We can't have 50 different immigration laws around the country,” the president said. “Arizona tried this, and a federal court already struck them down."


When provisions of Georgia's House Bill 87 will take effect:

July 1
Local and state police will be empowered to arrest illegal immigrants and take them to state and federal jails.

People who use fake identification to get a job in Georgia could face up to 15 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

People who -- while committing another crime -- knowingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants or encourage them to come to Georgia could face penalties. First-time offenders would face imprisonment for up to 12 months and up to $1,000 in fines.

A seven-member Immigration Enforcement Review Board will be established to investigate complaints about local and state government officials not enforcing state immigration-related laws.

Government officials who violate state laws requiring cities, counties and state government agencies to use E-Verify could face fines of up to $10,000 and removal from office.

The state Agriculture Department will be directed to study the possibility of creating Georgia's own guest-worker program. Some Georgia employers have complained the federal government's guest-worker program is too burdensome and expensive.

Jan. 1

State and local government agencies must start requiring people applying for public benefits -- such as food stamps, housing assistance and business licenses -- to provide at least one “secure and verifiable” document, which could be a state or federally issued form of identification. Consular matriculation cards will not be accepted. The state attorney general’s office is required to post a list of acceptable documents on its website by Aug. 1.

Phased in:

Georgia businesses will be required to use the federal E-Verify program to determine whether their new hires are eligible to work legally in the United States. Businesses with 500 or more employees must start complying with this provision on Jan. 1. Businesses with 100 or more employees but fewer than 500 must start complying with this provision on July 1, 2012. This requirement applies to businesses with between 11 and 99 employees starting July 1, 2013. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees are exempt.

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I have no idea how long this will stick or how bad it's going to get in here, but I can totally see the same worries that a place like Arizona has in my non-connected-to-Mexico state.