Democratic state lawmakers say they will seek to repeal parts of Georgia’s tough new immigration enforcement law, complaining it is harming the state’s $68.8 billion farming industry.
But the chances of such a repeal passing this year are likely slim. Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature overwhelmingly approved House Bill 87 in April before Republican Gov. Nathan Deal signed it into law in May.
State Rep. Lynmore James, D-Montezuma, said he and other Democratic lawmakers are preparing to introduce the repeal measure this week and hold a news conference about it at the state Capitol on Thursday. James said Rep. Pedro Marin, D-Duluth, would co-sponsor the measure.
Among the provisions of HB 87 that James said he and other lawmakers are targeting is one that would authorize police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects. Another provision they are considering for repeal would punish people who harbor or transport illegal immigrants in Georgia.
A federal judge in Atlanta has put both of those provisions on hold amid a court challenge brought by a coalition of civil and immigrant rights groups. Georgia is appealing.
Georgia’s agricultural industry -- the state’s largest industry -- has complained that the immigration law has scared away the migrant Hispanic workers many farmers depend on, resulting in crop losses of nearly $75 million.
“Georgia deserves better than a bill that costs millions of dollars in lost crops, lost revenue and lost opportunities,” James said in a prepared statement issued Monday. “I am a Georgia farmer. I know that our families cannot afford to have politicians playing with their food. If we want good jobs and a stronger economy, the first step is repealing HB 87.”
The author of HB 87 -- Republican state Rep. Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City -- said he will fight efforts to weaken the law.
“While these House Democrats may be comfortable with Georgia's taxpayers shouldering the more than $2 billion-a-year estimated burden imposed on our state by illegal immigration,” Ramsey said in an email, “the supporters of HB 87 are not and will oppose any effort to diminish its provisions.”
Marshall Guest, a spokesman for House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, was even more definitive.
"The chances of a repeal," he said, "are none at all."
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