ImmigrationIn Georgia, immigration officials targeting criminals, employers

Published 19 August 2010

A DHS report says 480,000 “unauthorized immigrants” were living in Georgia as of January 2009, ranking Georgia sixth among states behind California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois, respectively, and just ahead of Arizona; leaders of the $65-billion-a-year food and fiber production and processing industry in Georgia are worried about economic impact of get-tough immigration approach

The top federal officials in charge of enforcing immigration laws in Georgia say they are now focusing on busting employers who knowingly hire unlawful immigrants and on deporting violent criminals who are in this country illegally.

They acknowledged they are dealing with a serious problem in Georgia. A DHS report says 480,000 “unauthorized immigrants” were living in the state as of January 2009, ranking Georgia sixth among states behind California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois, respectively, and just ahead of Arizona.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jeremy Redmon quotes immigration officials in Georgia to say that they have limited resources and many other responsibilities, including fighting a variety of crimes from child pornography to transnational gangs. Taking their orders from Washington, they say they are concentrating on crimes that pose the greatest threats to the public and national security — such as murder, rape, and robbery — and the exploitation of cheap labor.

“It is similar to a police department,” Brock Nicholson, the acting special agent in charge in Atlanta for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) homeland security investigations, told Redmon. “If there is a large amount of crime going on in the community, the police department can focus on speeding. The police department can focus on shoplifting or jaywalking. But I would think the communities would rather have them focus on murders, rapes and armed robberies.”

Redmon writes that illegal immigrants are attracted to Georgia because of the jobs there, especially in the agricultural industry, so prosecuting employers who hire them can make the biggest dent in the problem, the officials said.

“Cheap labor unfortunately was a magnet not just for Georgia but for other states,” said Felicia Skinner, the Atlanta field office director for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations. “And that is why this administration has decided it is going to focus on the employers who are exploiting this cheap labor.”

ICE officials are checking up on business owners by inspecting their hiring records. So far this federal fiscal year — which covers October to September — officials have arrested 341 people on illegal immigration charges at worksites nationwide, according to ICE. Of those, 152 were managers. That is in contrast to 2009, when 114 managers and 296 employees were arrested, and fiscal year 2008, when 135 managers and 968 employees were arrested.

ICE officials were not immediately able to provide comparable statistics specifically for Georgia.

Further, the United States deported 387,790 illegal immigrants during fiscal year 2009, up from 369,221 in fiscal year 2008, according to ICE. Between October and June of this year, federal officials had deported 13,707 illegal immigrants from Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, the states for which Nicholson and Skinner are responsible. Of those, 8,189 were convicted criminals. During that same time frame, 263,537 illegal immigrants were deported nationwide, 132,637 of them convicted criminals.

During previous administrations, federal officials cracked down on illegal immigration through worksite raids. In April 2009, however, DHS secretary Janet Napolitano issued new guidance saying ICE should refocus and target violent criminals and employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, Napolitano said, “a scattershot approach where DHS targets any and all of the around 12 million people in the United States illegally does not amount to an approach that maximizes public safety. A new approach is needed, which is what the new priorities provide.”

Redmon notes that the new priorities also bring some new concerns. Bryan Tolar, a spokesman for the Georgia Agribusiness Council, said there should be some protections for businessmen who follow the law but inadvertently hire illegal immigrants.

“There is a difference,” said Tolar, whose council says it represents a $65 billion food and fiber production and processing industry in Georgia. “I haven’t broken the law if I hire someone that is here illegally, if they presented me documentation they showed to me that they were legal.”

The Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association was concerned enough that its members consulted with an attorney and a state legislator about immigration laws in October, said the association’s executive director, Mary Kay Woodworth. “The landscape contractors and owners,” she said, “who join associations such as MALTA and who are running their businesses in a professional, legal manner shouldn’t be in any trouble at all.”