Atlanta opposes tough immigration law fearing financial backlash

The Atlanta City Council is attempting to persuade Georgia governor Nathan Deal from signing a tough Arizona-style immigration law that was recently passed.

The council’s opposition to the bill is largely based on financial reasons as it fears losing millions of dollars in revenue from its tourism and convention business due to organizations boycotting Georgia as a result of the law.

The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau has not made an official statement on the bill yet, but William Pate, the president of the organization, has expressed his concerns regarding the law.

“Travel and tourism is a $10 billion dollar industry in Atlanta and we share the council’s concern that this bill could adversely affect our convention business and our economy,” Pate said.

Similar financial reasons recently motivated the Arizona business community to mobilize against several controversial immigration bills including one that proposed denying children of illegal immigrants birthright citizenship.

According to Angela Kelley, an immigration policy expert at the Center for American Progress, roughly sixty CEOs of Arizona businesses signed a letter requesting lawmakers to stop the passage of harsh immigration laws.

Kelley estimates that the backlash against the recent Arizona immigration law resulted in more than $200 million in lost revenues to businesses as a result of reduced convention and conference business.

Atlanta city councilman C.T. Martin has drafted a resolution requesting that Governor Deal not sign the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011 which contains a provision that would authorize law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of any individual suspected of entering the country illegally.

SB 1070, the hotly debated Arizona law, contained a similar provision which has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge.

The Georgia bill would also make it mandatory for all businesses to verify a prospective employee’s immigration status using the E-Verify program.

Aside from financial reasons, Councilman Martin said that the immigration bill was a “moral problem.”

“This is a human issue also. This country was founded on immigration. Why do we all of sudden have no sense of being sensitive to the issue? They ought to slow it down and let’s have some real creative level thinking on this issue,” he said.

Governor Dean has indicated the he will sign the bill which recently passed through Georgia’s senate and house largely along party lines.

Brian Robinson, a spokesman for the governor, signaled that Dean was not likely to change his mind.

“The illegal population of Georgia has ballooned over the last decade. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that comes at a huge cost to taxpayers,” Robinson said.

He added, “We know the federal government has taken no action to crack down on the unregulated flow of undocumented workers into our state or any other. And we know they’re taking no steps toward creating a workable permitting program that would allow Georgia to resolve its labor needs while also allowing us to enforce the rule of law. What we have now makes a mockery of the rule of law.”

The Atlanta City Council has been joined by several local governments in opposing the bill.

The Fulton County Commission has voted 4-2 to oppose the bill, while officials in DeKalb County are currently debating how to address the proposed law.