Immigration law could snarl routine business

One of their main questions: must applicants show their identification in person each time they apply for the benefits, even for the tens of thousands of business license renewals cities and counties routinely do online and by mail now?

Or can people mail, fax or email copies of their identification to government officials? If not, officials worry the new law could overwhelm their offices and create additional expenses and hassles for the public. They say they envision long lines of people -- identification in hand -- streaming into city and county offices statewide.

The author of the law, Republican state Rep. Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City, pointed to a part of HB 87 he said was included to make it possible for governments to accept the identification electronically, including through websites and email. But critics say people could defeat the purpose of the law by submitting phony identification electronically.

ACCG officials said the Attorney General’s office told them during a meeting Wednesday that people must present identification in person to get public benefits under HB 87. A spokeswoman for the AG's office said her agency had not offered “formal advice” and is still studying the issue.

“The attorneys can’t even agree on this stuff. And if they can’t agree, where do we turn to?” said Clint Mueller, the ACCG’s legislative director, who attended the meeting. “I hope we get some clarity.”

A lot is at stake for government officials. If they fail to enforce the law, they could face up to $1,000 in fines and up to 12 months in jail. Government agencies can also lose state funding for violations. A state Immigration Enforcement Review Board will investigate complaints that government officials are not enforcing HB 87.

Bryan Lackey, acting director of Gwinnett County’s Planning and Development Department, said his county is on pace to process about 23,000 business license renewals for next year. The county now allows people to apply for them for the first time in person or by mail, but it encourages online renewals.

“I would not have the staff to accommodate 23,000 people within two or three days of processing those, no,” Lackey said. “We are down staff from the past few years of cutbacks. We are trying to keep our head above water with the minimal staff now, using our online systems and mail-in systems.”

City officials have similar concerns.

“We do need clarification from the state of Georgia,” Roswell Mayor Jere Wood said, “so that we can be in compliance.”

Businessmen are also worried.

Bill Russell, president and CEO of Dacula-based Russell Landscape Group, said the issue is “extremely confusing and open to various legal interpretations.” Russell, who has been a vocal critic of HB 87, said his company will seek legal advice before bidding on other public projects in Georgia.

“It remains concerning,” he wrote in an email, “that during these challenging economic times when business needs significant legislative relief in the market place in order to create jobs and stimulate a struggling economy it is conversely being subjected to increased onerous legislation and government intrusion!”

Ramsey said a section of HB 87 says people may submit documents electronically so long as doing so complies with another lengthy and dense state law called the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. He said that provision was added at the request of local governments.

“We want to make sure,” he said, “that we give government the ability to build on efforts they are doing right now to make their interactions with their citizens more efficient and more consumer-friendly.”

But people could easily doctor identification documents before submitting them online or by email, said John Sampson, a retired Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who now works as a private investigator specializing in immigration-related fraud. Sampson noted that some documents contain security features -- such as holograms -- that may not show up in copies.

“The only way to ensure that you have a valid document before you is to view the document in its original form and not view a faxed copy or emailed copy,” he said. “Furthermore, with technology being the way it is today, it would be child's play to fabricate a document or to photo substitute a document, exchanging the rightful owner's photo with that of an impostor and then fax it or email it.”

Ramsey said he will be watching for such fraud next year.

“If there is abuse,” he said, “we certainly will revisit allowing the use of electronic transmission of these documents.”

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THE LAW

Beginning on Jan. 1 under Georgia’s new immigration enforcement law, state and local government agencies must start requiring people who apply for public benefits to provide at least one "secure and verifiable" document. The intent of the law is to prevent illegal immigrants from getting benefits they are not entitled to receive.

In August, the state Attorney General’s office published a two-page list of acceptable identification documents. The list includes but is not limited to:

Also in August, the state Attorney General’s office published a list of what are considered public benefits. The list includes but is not limited to:

For more information, go to www.law.ga.gov and click on "Immigration Reports" under the "Key Issues" tab