Posted on 04/17/2006 3:02:27 PM PDT by HEMICRASHBOX
Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday signed a sweeping immigration bill that supporters and critics say will make Georgia's laws among the toughest in the nation.
"I want to make this clear: we are not, Georgia's government is not, and this bill is not anti-immigrant," Perdue said Monday at a signing ceremony.
"We simply believe that everyone who lives in our state needs to abide by our laws."
The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act will verify that adults seeking many state-administered benefits are in the country legally. It sanctions employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and mandates that companies with state contracts check the immigration status of their employees.
The law will also require police to check the immigration status of people they arrest to see if they face deportation orders.
The measure is believed to be the first comprehensive immigration package to make it through a statehouse this session, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Many of the new law's provisions will not take effect until July 1, 2007.
Tisha Tallman, Southeast regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said she was studying potential legal challenges to the bill
Tallman said she was "incredibly disappointed" that Perdue signed the bill, rather than waiting for the federal government to act.
The bill drew protests at Georgia's state Capitol and prompted a daylong work stoppage by thousands of immigrants.
The new law will not affect emergency medical care and education for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, which federal courts have said must be provided regardless of immigration status. Exemptions were also added for some other services like prenatal care and the treatment communicable diseases.
The move to tighten up rules in Georgia comes as lawmakers in Washington wrestle with competing proposals to shore up controls at the border, create a guest worker program and create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the United States.
Outside the Capitol on Monday, a few hundred supporters of the legislation roared their applause when word came that Perdue was planning to sign the proposal.
The crowd waved American flags and cheered as state Rep. Melvin Everson, one of the Georgia House's two black Republicans, denounced illegal immigration as a cancer and proclaimed: "The last time I checked, America was the land of English _ not Spanish."
And they hollered as Republican state Sen. Chip Rogers, the bill's author, called it "the strongest single bill in America dealing with illegal immigration _ bar none."
But perhaps the greatest applause came when Catherine Davis, a black Republican running for Congress against U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, was introduced.
If Davis is elected, she vowed, "I'd tell all the illegal aliens to go home."
At the bill signing on Monday, Rogers said he has been approached by state lawmakers from South Carolina and Colorado who were interested in crafting similar proposals for their states. And Rogers said he hoped to introduce legislation next year tackling document fraud, which he said undermines efforts to enforce immigration law.
Rogers acknowledged the bill Perdue signed on Monday is not a cure all, but said the state was acting where the federal government refused to.
If Davis is elected, she vowed, "I'd tell all the illegal aliens to go home."
C'mon, Georgia, don't let us down.
Get rid of that terrorist sympathizer.
Thank you Georgia!
Repeating a negative is always bad. Instead he should say, "Georgia loves immigrants. America is a nation of immigrants. We want to avoid lawbreaking."
Care to elaborate, newb?
Troll
Go dye a t-shirt, and stop leaking ignorance all over FR.
Everyone should thank all those who marched in the recent protests for this legislation. Hope they march again and boycott. Looking forward to it.
It's gone!
God Bless Georgia..............
Thank You Georgia!
Very correct Zack.
By the way, I think it's wonderful how many Vietnamese Americans stand up for the pro-borders cause.
I mention Vietnamese for Fair Immigration in my book. Do you happen to know Tim Binh?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425909817/qid=1145298501/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2 _1/103-3751742-4242220?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~35912.aspx
Listening, Mr. President??
Yup. What a beautiful piece of legislation this is.
You're an imbecile.
This isn't about being an "imigrant" (Note: Correct spelling is IMMIGRANT). You came to the wrong place to try and change the language of the debate. This is about ILLEGAL immigrants... get it? ILLEGAL. Your ridiculously stupid attempt to change the character of the debate with word substitution is a tactic used by grade schoolers against their dumber peers. You won't get away with it here.
Further, your ignorant stereotyping of the people of Georgia as 'bigots' is EXACTLY the same bigotry you claim to dislike.
Here on Free Republic we can fix your lack of knowledge, but we can't fix stupid.
Don't you have a macaroni art project you need to have completed before you get on the bus tomorrow morning?
Too bad I missed the comment before it was deleted!
Georgians should be proud that they had the Moxie to step up to the plate and do what the Feds refuse to do. A home run for the legislature and Gov. Sonny.
someone GIVE zACK nGUYEN a pat on the back. It is about LAW BREAKING, nothing else.
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