Georgia Joins Arizona in Strong Effort to Control Illegal Immigration

Matt Mayer / April 18, 2011

It appears that Georgia Governor Nathan Deal will sign legislation passed by the Georgia House and Senate that adopts the Arizona SB 1070 framework for controlling illegal immigration. With the influx of 425,000 illegal immigrants into Georgia over the last two decades, this two-pronged legislation will help curb that flow.

The two elements of the Georgia legislation involve permitting law enforcement to check the legal status of individuals they stop and requiring the use of the E-Verify system for businesses with more than 10 employees. Unlike Arizona’s SB 1070 “reasonable suspicion” standard, the Georgia legislation permits law enforcement to check the legal status only of individuals who are detailed for criminal offenses. This minor change means that the legal outcome to SB 1070 in the Ninth Circuit won’t have any chilling effect on the Georgia legislation. (more…)