Two of the toughest and most ballyhooed parts of Georgia's anti-illegal immigration law have seen little or no action in the year since they went on the books, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation has found.
One of those measures seeks to block illegal immigrants from getting jobs by severely punishing those who use phony identification to work in Georgia. The punishment — which can apply to any adult, not just illegal immigrants — is up to 15 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
Ten district attorney offices representing 15 counties across the state — including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett — said they have not prosecuted anyone for this offense.
The incoming president of the Georgia District Attorneys' Association and the head of the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys' Council said they also were unaware of any prosecutors seeking such convictions.
Another provision in the law created a state panel empowered to crack down on local and state government agencies that violate Georgia's immigration-related statutes. The Immigration Enforcement Review Board has received only two complaints since it was formed last year and has not sanctioned anyone.
Critics of Georgia's law say the AJC's findings show the statute is unnecessary. Proponents argue it is too early to judge the law and that it could be working by acting as a deterrent.
Georgia lawmakers approved the law — known as HB 87 — last year, hoping to block illegal immigrants from taking jobs and consuming taxpayer-funded resources such as public schools and hospitals.
Georgia has the ninth-largest population among states but ranks sixth for the estimated number of illegal immigrants living within its borders. A federal Homeland Security Department report released in March put that number at 440,000.
Law a deterrent?
The Republican author of HB 87, state Rep. Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City, said it is premature to draw conclusions about the law, since portions of it are still tied up in a federal appeals court in Atlanta.
He said the statute is "serving as a deterrent, and there is a widespread good faith effort by state and local governments in Georgia to follow the law, and thus citizens have no reason to file any complaints."
Charles Kuck, a local immigration attorney who is fighting parts of HB 87 in federal court, offered a different view.
"It says to me that the Legislature wasted everybody's time passing laws that were political and not legally necessary to keep our state safe," said Kuck, who teaches immigration law at the University of Georgia.
State political leaders appointed the seven members of the Immigration Enforcement Review Board in September. The panel has the power to investigate complaints filed against city, county and state officials, hold hearings, subpoena documents, adopt regulations and hand out punishment. That punishment could include loss of state funding for government agencies and fines of up to $5,000 for officials who "knowingly" violate the state's immigration-related laws.
Since its members were appointed, the panel has elected its own leadership, adopted its own rules and received two complaints.
One of those complaints says an Atlanta ordinance violated state law by allowing people to use Mexican matricula consular ID cards in city government transactions. Georgia law says city officials may not accept such ID cards when people apply for public benefits.
Ben Vinson, chairman of the Immigration Enforcement Review Board, said his panel likely will dismiss that complaint since Atlanta repealed the ordinance in April.
The other complaint, filed in March by Michael Dale Smith of Twin City, accuses Vidalia of giving illegal immigrants safe harbor by allowing them to live, travel and work within the city limits. The city has denied those allegations. Vinson said he sent Smith a letter this month, asking him to provide evidence backing up his complaint. Smith told the AJC he did not have such evidence but said Vinson's board could subpoena documents from Vidalia police.
Vinson said he thought the panel would have received more complaints by now. But he said the board's mere existence could be keeping public agencies in line.
"I think it is possible a lot of people were spooked and looked at it and started complying -— or kept complying," he said.
Georgia's new aggravated identify fraud offense went on the books last July 1. The district attorney offices representing seven Atlanta area counties as well as Athens-Clarke County, Brooks, Colquitt, Floyd, Echols, Lowndes, Oconee and Thomas counties said they have not prosecuted anyone under that offense.
Time to build a case
One possible reason is that it takes time to build such a case, said Chuck Olson, general counsel and acting executive director for the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia.
"When the General Assembly enacts a new criminal statute, there usually is about an 18-month delay before we first see cases brought under them," Olson said. "Remember, somebody has got to investigate this. Until there is an investigation and there is an arrest, it is not going to get to the prosecutors' offices."
In addition, such prosecutions can be more complex than others, said Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter.
"It is a two-step process," Porter said. "You would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they obtained [the identification] falsely and that it was for the purpose of obtaining a job."
Law enforcement authorities also have the option of charging someone with the lesser but more familiar crime of identify fraud, which carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
For example, Colquitt Sheriff's Office investigator Mike Murfin said he chose to charge a woman with that lesser offense last year. He said Martha Lilia Garcia bought someone else's Social Security number and used it to get a job at a Moultrie produce company last year. The victim, who lives in Nevada, called authorities, Murfin said.
"Just out of compassion, I guess you would say, I felt that the charge that I charged her with would be applicable," he said, noting that Garcia had young children. "Let's face it. I'm a human, too. This lady has got a family. It's still wrong, but she is not out there trying to kill anybody. She is out there actually working for a living, trying to feed her family."
AJC Investigation - Illegal Immigration
Our findings
In today's installment, we continue investigating enforcement of Georgia's immigration law:
- District attorneys say they haven't prosecuted anyone for using phony identification.
- A review board has received only two complaints of local or state government agencies violating statutes.
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