So far, the news stories are grossly incomplete.
One of the requirements of HB 87 is that applicants for Public Benefits provide ID credentials regarded as “secure and verifiable” to document what they already supposed to have sworn to on an affidavit asking if said applicant is eligible for benefits through either U.S. citizenship or lawfully present alien status.
“Lawfully present alien” is the opposite of “illegal alien.”
Just one of the pesky facts not being offered to the readers of those publications is that all official agencies administering public benefits have been required to collect this affidavit since July 1, 2007 due to the implementation of state Sen. Chip Rogers’ Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006 (SB 529). Proof of eligibility is only common sense to stop illegal aliens from checking a box indicating they are U.S. citizens on the affidavit and then collecting taxpayer provided benefits.
The latest alarm story quotes former Secretary of State Cathy Cox as saying that the added security measures could be “catastrophic.” Oh my.
Here is some more of what the Atlanta newspapers are not including in their news reports:
HB 87 added language that explicitly enabled benefits issuing agencies the authorization to collect both the sworn affidavit and the ID electronically. Previous to HB 87, that possibility was not addressed in the law.
Also not being reported is the fact that the Secretary of State’s office already allows online applicants for many professional licenses to submit documents proving legal alien status by – get this -- the U.S. Mail.
The Atlanta reports are not making it clear that HB 87 officially made delivering the required affidavit and now the secure ID much easier, not more difficult for all concerned.
The news reports reflect contentions that professional license issuance and renewing may be delayed for months because – gulp – people may suddenly choose to physically walk their immigration documents or drivers licenses into the official offices instead of using the electronic submission or the snail-mail delivery system that is already in place. A): Nonsense. B) Why would they? C) So what?
Let’s get something straight. Processing a drivers license or an immigration document along with the already required affidavit is not exactly rocket science. The upgrade in security measures aimed at stopping illegal aliens from getting any of Georgia’s Public Benefits – including professional licenses - is common sense.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp has it just right with his quote in Atlanta news report - “The last thing we want to happen is to keep Georgians from working, but it is also our duty to uphold the laws of this state”
There is a lot more to this story. None of it reflects poorly on HB 87. Let’s hope there is news coverage coming from responsible outlets that includes the missing information.
King is president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society. He has worked closely with Georgia legislators on illegal immigration related legislation.
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The ACCG and GMA and ACCG are workng to void the law next session. Georgians should pay atttention. King already told us in another letter:The Mexican lawmakers said then that enforcement in the U.S. was having a devastating affect. The increased demand for subsidized housing, jobs and schools as illegal Mexican workers in Arizona returned to their Mexican hometowns without jobs or money was a real problem. Huh?
Around here, that kind of talk would be regarded by some Atlanta newspaper opinion page writers, La Raza and the ACLU as “meanspirited, anti-Hispanic and extreme.” At the least.
None of these inconvenient facts from Mexico can be helping the case being presented by some local governments here in Georgia through their powerful lobby that compliance with that darn HB 87, Georgia’s newest immigration related law, is just too inconvenient and costly.
Or from immigration lawyers practicing in Georgia who lament that illegals are leaving the state.
The University of Georgia School of Law held a symposium Saturday that included a discussion panel focused on HB 87. Heavily skewed to the anti-enforcement side, the panelists’ complaints were music to the ears of most Georgians. “We’re seeing people flee the state, whole families flee the state,” immigration lawyer Carolina Antonini lamented. She meant illegals who fear enforcement.
Many cities lack the resources to use the E-Verify system to check employees’ and public works contractors’ immigration status, said panelist Rusi Patel, counsel for the Georgia Municipal Association. He apparently didn’t mention that program was free to use and those requirements have been in place in Georgia since 2007.
What HB 87 did was to finally add clear penalties for officials who ignore the law.
Unsurprising prediction: The coming Gold Dome legislative session will see multiple attempts by the ACLU, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) to weaken immigration law in Georgia. Again.
The media does not have to tell us - we know the truth and will not be fooled by all the tactics these biased reporters try to cover over the obvious. The liberal press falls right into the hands of big farm and the Chamber of Commerce who have been enjoying the taxpayers subsidizing their cheap slave labor force.