Immigration Politics - Georgia: Editorial - Business wins in state bill on illegal workers

Editorial: Business wins in state bill on illegal workers || OnlineAthens.com: "It may be called the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011, but House Bill 87, which won overwhelming approval in the Georgia House of Representatives last week, does very little to spur reform within businesses and industries that use illegal labor, nor does it enforce any real means of halting the hiring of illegal laborers by many of the employers who use them. ...

The heart of the bill, at least as it applies to businesses and industries, is a requirement that "(e)very private employer with five or more employees shall register with and utilize the federal employment eligibility verification system known as E-Verify, for verification of the immigration status of newly hired employees. ... "

So, who'll be checking up on employers to ensure they're complying with the provisions of the bill, if it does become law in its present form? Well, it appears that local governments will be saddled with a large share of that responsibility. ...

Confronted with yet another mandate from the state, it's not hard to imagine that any number of county and municipal governments might simply decide to stop issuing business licenses or otherwise involving themselves with local businesses."