Illegal immigrants would be barred from attending Georgia's public colleges under legislation that passed a key House committee Monday.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee passed Senate Bill 458 after about two hours of discussion. The measure passed the GOP-controlled Senate on March 5.
Sen. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Cassville and the lead sponsor of the bill, spoke in favor of his bill.
“One of the arguments you may hear today,” Loudermilk told the committee, “is what is wrong about allowing someone who may be here illegally to take one of the seats in one of our colleges or universities, if they just want to better themselves and they want to become a productive member of our society. Well, that is a good argument to make. However, it is a federal crime to hire someone who is illegally in this country.”
Loudermilk paused several times to consult anti-illegal immigration activist D.A. King, who sat by the senator’s side during the hearing. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which advocates enforcement of U.S. immigration and employment laws.
Most of the people who spoke during a hearing on the bill Monday opposed the legislation, including Suttiwan Cox, the founder and principal of the Path Academy charter school in Brookhaven, where most of the students are Hispanic.
“It is better to have educated unemployed people than non-educated unemployed people,” she said. “Why don’t you get them to work and ask them to pay back student loans?”
Moments later, Cox suggested banning students from colleges in Georgia could lead to crime.
“What are you going to do with hundreds or thousands of kids who [finish] k-12 and then cannot go to college and then walk the street. They end up robbing you. And what are you going to do? You are going to build more jails instead of building children?”
The hearing grew tense at times. Committee chairman Rich Golick, R-Smyrna, told several speakers to lower their voices.
The legislation also seeks to relax parts of an anti-illegal immigration law the Legislature passed last year. For example, business owners, and city and county officials have complained about how the law requires people to show certain forms of identification -- such as a state driver's license or U.S. passport -- to get public benefits. They say that provision could delay issuance of business permits and professional licenses and hinder badly needed economic development.
The Senate legislation says people who establish they are U.S. citizens with "secure and verifiable" identification the first time they apply for public benefits would not have to show their ID to the same agency when they reapply for those benefits. The bill would also allow applicants to deliver copies of their identification in person or by mail or submit them by fax, over the Internet or through texting.
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