Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers and two other Republican lawmakers are sponsoring legislation that would ban illegal immigrants from attending Georgia colleges and universities.
Senate Bill 458 would also relax some requirements and tighten others relating to when people must show “secure and verifiable” forms of identification to get public benefits, including grants, business permits and professional licenses.
Georgia enacted those ID requirements last year in sweeping legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. Proponents say the law, also known as House Bill 87, helps prevent illegal immigrants from getting taxpayer-funded benefits. Critics say it has created red tape that could hinder commerce in Georgia.
The outlook for the new Senate legislation is uncertain, however, since both House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and Republican Gov. Nathan Deal have said they have no plans to tinker with HB 87. Both have pointed out that parts of the law have only been in effect for months.
Sen. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Cassville and the the lead sponsor of the Senate bill, wrote in an email Friday that "there are documented cases of American citizens, including returning veterans, being turned away from our state institutions because classes were full, while illegal immigrants were filling some of those seats."
Loudermilk's bill would require colleges to determine applicants’ eligibility by running their names through a federal database to determine whether they are in the country legally.
The Senate bill is similar to House Bill 59, which is sponsored by Rep. Tom Rice, R-Norcross. That bill was introduced last year, and while it passed out of the House Higher Education Committee, it never made it to the floor for a vote. The same committee held a hearing about the bill Jan. 31, but committee Chairman Carl Rogers put off a vote, saying it needed more work.
Rogers, R-Gainesville, said he has attended graduations at East Hall High School and knows some of the students collecting diplomas were brought to this country illegally by their families.
“What do we do with them after?” Rogers said after the committee met. “This is not an easy issue.”
The University System of Georgia stands by its previous position in opposing legislation that would bar illegal immigrants from attending public colleges, Tom Daniel, senior vice chancellor for external affairs, said Friday. Chancellor Hank Huckaby told Rogers and other committee members that current State Board of Regents policies already address this issue, making the legislation unnecessary.
Illegal immigrants are barred from attending the state’s most elite colleges through a rule that prohibits them from any institution that has turned away academically qualified students. The affected colleges are the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Georgia Health Sciences University and Georgia College & State University. Illegal immigrants must pay out-of-state tuition if they attend any of the system's other 30 colleges.
Of the system's 318,000 students, about 300 are "undocumented," Huckaby said. Last year the system had about 500, and Huckaby said the drop shows the new rules are working. Students are classified as undocumented if they don't produce documents to show they have a lawful presence. They may or may not be in the country legally.
Helen Kim Ho, executive director of the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, criticized the Senate legislation, saying “you can't be both anti-immigrant and pro-economy.”
“This bill would do nothing to solve the immigration problem, the perceived problem of undocumented students ‘taking seats' from citizen students, or increase employment,” she wrote in an email. “If we want to decrease the unemployment rate, the best solution is a better education for all that live in our state.”
The Senate legislation also seeks to relax parts of HB 87.
For example, business owners, and city and county officials have complained that 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 the issuance of business permits and professional licenses and hinder economic development at a time when Georgia can least afford it.
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.
Todd Edwards, associate legislative director for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, praised those parts of the bill. He said “with immigration law -- the bulk of both enforcement and compliance falls on local governments.”
“We are encouraged,” he said. “It addresses two of the major concerns we have heard from both businesses and private persons within our communities.”
At the same time, the bill would tighten identification requirements for public benefits by banning expired documents from the list of acceptable identification. It also would ban foreign passports unless they are submitted along with federal documents specifying legal immigration status.
The governor and the House speaker, however, have both indicated an unwillingness to seek changes to HB 87 during this legislative session, saying parts of it have only been in effect for months. Other parts are tied up in federal court amid a legal challenge brought by civil and immigrant rights groups.
"I am just one of those who need to be cautious about going in and tinkering until you know the full effect of what you did the first time around," Deal told The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Tuesday.
The author of HB 87 -- Republican Rep. Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City -- said he supports the Senate legislation, suggesting it could help ensure the law is "being implemented in the manner we intended."
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