Georgia governor signs sweeping immigration law

[Eugene]

Georgia governor signs sweeping immigration law
Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:13pm ET

By Karen Jacobs

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The state of Georgia approved a sweeping measure on Monday
to crack down on illegal immigrants and the people who hire them as a passionate
debate on immigration heats up in the United States.

The law could fuel a national controversy as the federal government and
other states consider how to deal with millions of undocumented workers
while immigrants, many of whom are Hispanic, are displaying their political power
through mass demonstrations in cities across the United States.

The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, signed into law
by Gov. Sonny Perdue, denies many state services paid for by taxpayers
to people who are in the United States illegally.

<snip>

Other provisions of the law prohibit employers from claiming a tax deduction
for wages of $600 or more paid to undocumented workers, impose prison terms
for human trafficking and limit the services commercial companies can provide
to illegal immigrants.

<snip>

Full article: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-04-17T231323Z_01_N17284809_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-IMMIGRATION-GEORGIA.xml

[GrumpyGreg]

1. Sounds good to me. Something has to be done.

[paul_fromatlanta]

3. This is good but it we will need more ( a lot more) legal immigration

[onehandle]

2. Hey, Sonny. How about all the Corporate Welfare we Ga taxpayers provide?

How 'bout it, you chickenhawk sack of shit?

[paul_fromatlanta]

5. Traditionally a chickenhawk is somebody who didnt serve in the military

but advocates war or else an older gay man who seeks out much younger men or boys for sex.

Whatever his faults, I am reasonably sure Perdue does not qualify as a chicken hawk. Certainly not by the first definition since he was a pilot in the air force.

[onehandle]

7. Oops. I get his history mixed up with Saxby Chambliss.

Who is a chickenhawk.

The only gay action Sonny sees is when he buries his face in Bush's zipper when he shows up to snarl our traffic.

[paul_fromatlanta]

8. Sonny as a gay man would be pretty scary.... :)

[CottonBear]

9. Sonny is an ass.

He abandoned the Democratic party.
He is a friend only of big business here in GA.
Do not ever trust him. Ever.

[paul_fromatlanta]

10. Sonny was a democrat? Now that I did not know.

[onehandle]

18. You know the history here.

Racists used to inhabit both parties in the South.

Starting in the 60s, they started going to the GOP. A racist's natural home.

Good riddance.

[RebelOne]

19. That's news to me, too.

[CottonBear]

20. Yes, he most certainly was. He is also a veterinarian.

He never practiced though. He attended the UGA School of Veterinary Medicine.

He was a Democrat when most Southerners were. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was a "Dixiecrat" but he did personally tell me he's a "populist." I thought to myself: "Yeah and so was Lester Maddox."

I told Perdue I'd never vote for a Republican when he asked me for my vote. That felt really good.

[CottonBear]

22. Are you from the South originally?

Just curious. Sonny's been an elected official in GA for years. He and many other conservatives switched parties a few years ago. You may not have been living in GA or the South and don't know the political lay of the land and the political hsitory of GA.

[paul_fromatlanta]

26. I'm from here but I never heard of Perdue before he ran for governor

[Charlie Brown]

13. The "secrecy laws" passed on his watch have been most odd

Sonny doesn't have much respect for the public's right to know.

http://www.georgiareporter.com/DPGPapersCondemn.htm

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.asp?storyid=62861

http://www.aiada.org/article.asp?id=34168

[Terran1212]

24. Well summed up; a friend of mine's dad plays racquetball with him

He accidentally hit Sonny in the face and he had to get stitches. I clapped.

[CottonBear]

4. Me thinks he's given most of the Repubs an out:

"Other provisions of the law prohibit employers from claiming a tax deduction
for wages of $600 or more paid to undocumented workers..."
:( :grr:

[paul_fromatlanta]

6. Yeah that's odd. Why should they be able to deduct any wages paid to

illegals?

[depakid]

11. "...famous Georgia hospitality."

OK....

[Charlie Brown]

14. That's his way of reminding the latinos that they are "guests"

and can be sent home whenever he says so.

Perdue ran on a racist platform in 2002, demanding the old GA flag (with the dixie cross) be put to a popular vote (his Democratic predecessor had finally gotten it removed). He backed away from this after the election, realizing what an embarrassment it would be if the old flag was brought back. Nonetheless, his base are still the rural crackers who want to keep their towns white.

[CottonBear]

21. The Flaggots turned on Perdue.

They have not forgotten that Perdue "took away" their chance to vote on which flag GA would use.

[msgadget]

12. The last paragraph of your post

Is that supposed to be him cracking down on business? Are there large fines for the employers as well?

[Eugene]

16. The Reuters article wasn't more specific.

A Business Week article from March, In Georgia, Immigration Is No Peach,
gives more details. It doesn't mention fines for hiring undocumented workers either.
Employers need proof of legal work authorization if they have contracts with state
or local governments or if they want to claim payroll tax deductions. The new law
also withholds 6% of wages for contract workers without valid SSN's or TIN's.

Otherwise the focus is on individuals.

[msgadget]

17. Thanks, Eugene,

that was a great article about it. People wouldn't migrate to a place w/o jobs, too bad the focus is so unbalanced.

[SoCalDem]

15. This was the goal all along, folks.. To get the states to cobble together

50 different laws, and the feds will swush their hands together and say.."mission accomplished...we don;t need to act now.."

and the states are cash-starved, so they will lack the funding to enact the new laws or prosecute the bosses who hire undocumented workers, so it stays as it always was.. a hodgepodge of rules, laws & regulations that go under-enforced...but the fact that they exist, will give yahoos free-rein to go out and "hunt down" anyone they suspect to be illegal..

[pinerow]

23. Quite a few "illegals" pay taxes also...why should they be denied

services they pay for...???

[Blue_Tires]

25. wow

the construction industry in the residental/commercial exurbs of Atlanta will NOT like this! they have been raking in cash hand over fist for more than a decade now...

of course, this law won't REALLY apply to the construction magnates who are heavy GOP donors