Months-long bureaucratic delays that are expected to stem from Georgia’s new immigration law could become “catastrophic” for people seeking professional licenses from the state and create “direct consequences” for small businesses, former Secretary of State Cathy Cox said.
Cox was reacting to an estimate from the current secretary of state, Brian Kemp, that enforcing a key part of the immigration law could delay the licenses for tens of thousands of accountants, nurses and many other professionals by an additional three to four months.
At issue is a part of House Bill 87 that requires people applying for professional licenses and other public benefits, such as government aid, to show a “secure and verifiable” form of identification, such as a driver’s license. The aim is to block illegal immigrants from obtaining public benefits to which they are not entitled. That provision takes effect Jan. 1.
Kemp said the new requirement will force his staff to attach copies of these identification documents to about 256,000 applications for licenses next year. It now takes his office 25 to 30 days to process new licenses and about two weeks for renewals. The increased paperwork could delay turnaround times by 90 to 120 days, said Kemp, a Republican.
Cox, a Democrat who served as secretary of state from 1999 to 2007, said such delays are plausible given the requirements of the new immigration law and the budget cuts she said her former office has experienced in recent years.
“You could put people out of work who are in work. It could be catastrophic, truly,” she said in an interview Friday. “All the real true small business people run through this office of the secretary of state. And to put an impediment like that in front of them is going to have dire consequences for the business community.”
Georgia business leaders have raised concerns in recent days that the delays could slow down economic development at a time when the state can least afford it. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce called the potential delays in issuing professional licenses an “unintended consequence” of the immigration law.
“We hope that this issue can be resolved in a way that does not put an undue burden on Georgia businesses,” Joselyn Baker, a spokeswoman for the chamber, said in an email Friday.
Kemp said he is working with Gov. Nathan Deal's office and seeking additional state funding to hire more staff.
“We have got to abide by the law but also I have to get these people licensed, one way or another,” Kemp said Friday. “The last thing we want is for somebody not getting their license and not being able to work.”
Deal signed HB 87 into law in May. Asked about the estimated delays in issuing state licenses, the governor’s office issued a statement Friday.
“The governor believes applicants should have to prove they're here legally to get a ‘public benefit,” said Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Deal. “The new law implements a much-needed reform.”
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