While we read the headlines about the Georgia unemployment rate going up and the budget being cut, a respectful request to the Georgia General Assembly from someone who studies the consequences of the crimes of illegal immigration, illegal employment and illegal administration of public benefits: Consider reducing the size of Georgia's "undocumented worker" population, thereby creating jobs for American workers and redirecting benefits and services to eligible recipients.

An undeniable fact: People who are in violation of American immigration laws migrate out of every area in which the law is actually enforced. Simply put, again, enforcement works.

As this longtime American has written many times, in 2006 Georgia passed a law that says Georgians - including local governments and state agencies - must obey federal immigration, employment and benefits laws. Like many immigration laws that do not directly benefit the illegal aliens or the Americans who have created an industry out of using and rewarding them, the law was treated as an option by virtually all local governments in Georgia.

In 2009 another law, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2010, was passed to strengthen the original law.

We now have a law that says we must obey the law that says we must obey the law. It, too, is widely ignored.

To date, of the 159 counties and 535 municipalities in Georgia, 47 are authorized to use a federal database (the SAVE system) to verify eligibility of applicants for public benefits as mandated in Georgia law. Another 214 have pending applications to use the program.

No one in state government seems to have a count of the other various official agencies that administer public benefits. We cannot change what we cannot measure.

Like all laws, the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act must be enforced.

Imagine the headlines if the laws that grant taxpayer funded education, health care, Medicaid and translation services to illegal aliens and their children were to be violated. Or the Governor's Super Speeder law.

Speaking of recent headlines, here are just three: "Decade ahead will be severe for the unemployed," "Jobless payouts a strain on the state" and "Summit addresses Georgia's job crisis."

And here is a suggestion: Protect the American worker by mandating use of the federal E-Verify employment eligibility system for all employers in the state to check newly hired employees for eligibility, using citizenship and immigration status. It's a no-brainer.

The highly accurate and successful E-Verify system happens to have been designed for exactly that purpose. Do we really want to struggle to create jobs and then sit back and ignore no-cost tools that would prevent Georgia workers from competing for those jobs with people who escaped capture at our borders?

Heads up: Expect vehement opposition to use of the E-Verify employment verification system from a coalition of the ACLU, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the rabid ethnic-based anti-enforcement lobby.

Protecting American workers is not job-one for everyone.

Another headline: "College applicants face tough competition for enrollments." Since taxpayer-funded postsecondary education is a public benefit for which illegal aliens are not eligible under both federal and state law, it follows that use of the SAVE system to ensure compliance with those laws will open up seats for students who are here lawfully. And who will be eligible to work upon graduation.

How many tax dollars can Georgia save if we move to stop allowing the hiring of black-market labor and reduce the number of illegals who access services and benefits? Good question.

A 2008 study by the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform put the annual Georgia tab for K-12 education, public health care and incarceration of criminals at $1.6 billion to provide these services to illegals and their dependents.

In California, where illegal immigration was ignored for decades, just one county, San Bernardino, reports spending nearly $64 million in state and federal money last year alone to provide welfare benefits to just the American-born children of illegal aliens.

Some California lawmakers say it's an expense the state can't afford as it struggles to close a nearly $20 billion budget gap.

"This is a huge burden on our state," said Assemblyman Steve Knight."

Besides the courageous exceptions, we hear from too few Georgia legislators on the obvious illegal immigration connection with our jobs and budget crisis.

Another headline; "Lawmakers out of ways to cut spending in '10."

Not true.

D.A. King is a nationally recognized authority on illegal immigration and president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society, which advocates for the enforcement of immigration laws. He lobbied in favor of the Georgia immigration laws. On the Web: www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org