The Atlanta City Council, fearing a serious financial blow to the city’s multi-billion-dollar tourism and convention business, is calling on Gov. Nathan Deal to not sign controversial House Bill 87, the Arizona-like legislation that targets illegal immigrants by allowing police to investigate documentation status of suspects.
As in Arizona, council members are concerned that conventions and organizations may begin to boycott Georgia and specifically Atlanta, which is driven by its tourist-based economy.
Councilman C.T. Martin, who drafted a resolution calling for Deal not to sign the bill, went so far as to call HB 87 a “moral problem.”
“This is a human issue also,” Martin said. “This country was founded on immigration. Why do we all of sudden have no sense of being sensitive to the issue? They ought to slow it down and let’s have some real creative level thinking on this issue.”
Deal told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that he would sign the sweeping immigration bill, which was passed by the House earlier in the week 112 to 59 largely along party lines. The senate passed it 37-19.
On Tuesday, Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Deal, gave no indication that the governor would be interested in changing his mind.
“The illegal population of Georgia has ballooned over the last decade. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that comes at a huge cost to taxpayers,” Robinson said. “We know the federal government has taken no action to crack down on the unregulated flow of undocumented workers into our state or any other. And we know they’re taking no steps toward creating a workable permitting program that would allow Georgia to resolve its labor needs while also allowing us to enforce the rule of law. What we have now makes a mockery of the rule of law.”
Atlanta is not alone in its concerns, although governments across the metro area have been divided.
The Fulton County Commission has also gone on record opposing House Bill 87. Last month during a report from the commission’s state lobbyist, Commissioner William “Bill” Edwards moved to oppose the bill and the panel did so by a vote of 4-2.
In DeKalb County, officials are considering how they want to address the bill.
In Gwinnett County, where the population is now more than 50 percent minority, the board of commissioners has not addressed it.
Nor has Cobb County, which has been at the forefront with immigration issues, including its participation in ICE’s 287(g) program that allows jail deputies to screen inmates to determine their immigration status.
The board of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau has yet to take a position on the matter, but William Pate, the organization’s president, has voiced his concerns over the bill.
"Travel and tourism is a $10 billion dollar industry in Atlanta and we share the council's concern that this bill could adversely affect our convention business and our economy,” Pate said.
Last year when Arizona passed its controversial bill, which permitted police to question anyone about their immigration status, dozens of conventions abandoned the state. A coalition of businesses and immigrant rights groups is suing to stop Arizona's law, arguing it is unconstitutional. The case is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The bill sets up new requirements for Georgia businesses to make sure that they are not hiring illegal immigrants by using the federal E-Verify program, which confirms whether their new hires are eligible to work in the U.S.
The legislation also allows police officers to check the immigration status of certain suspects, which critics say could lead to racial profiling.
“In a Christian mind, who is legal and who is not? We are all God’s children,” Martin said. “We have people who are bonafide citizens who are doing harm. These people are not doing harm, they just want to work.”
Staff writers Janel Davis, John Edwards, Aaron Gould Sheinin and David Wickert contributed to this article.
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