A group of Tea Party activists and a busload of Catholic nuns are preparing to demonstrate outside the Atlanta offices of Georgia’s two U.S. senators Wednesday concerning the immigration overhaul bill now pending in Congress.
At 3 p.m. Wednesday, nuns on a 6,500-mile, 15-state tour will rally outside U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ Atlanta office in support of “comprehensive immigration reform for the good of the people and the good of the Georgia economy.” Top officials with the Georgia AFL-CIO and Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights are set to join them.
And at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, the Atlanta Tea Party is preparing to demonstrate outside of Sen. Johnny Isakson’s Atlanta office against Senate Bill 744, the sweeping immigration bill now pending in Congress. The group is urging its demonstrators to bring signs declaring, “Secure Our Borders First” and “Amnesty is Fiscally Irresponsible.”
Among other things, the Senate legislation would provide a 13-year path to citizenship for immigrants living illegally in the U.S. It would also make it easier for U.S. employers to hire more foreign workers. And it is aimed at clearing the massive backlogs in the legal immigration system.
Spokesmen for Isakson and Chambliss have said the Republican senators won’t take a position on the legislation until they have reviewed the bill, which stretched 844 pages before it was amended and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. It could come to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as next week. A bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers is crafting its own immigration bill.
Pressure has been building in Georgia in recent weeks for and against the legislation:
• On Monday, Georgia House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, issued an open letter to Chambliss and Isakson, urging them to oppose the federal bill. Lindsey, who is running for Georgia’s 11th congressional seat, said the legislation doesn’t do enough to secure the nation’s borders.
• Last month, a coalition of tea party groups, conservative commentators and others from Georgia and across the nation released an open letter opposing the bill and also disclosed a website created to fight it, www.StopGangof8.com. Georgia Conservatives in Action and the Carroll County Tea Party Association were among those who signed the letter.
• In a meeting with Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporters and editors last week, national and state farm leaders confirmed they have lined up in support of the legislation. The bill would make it easier for the state’s $71.1 billion agricultural industry —- Georgia’s largest —- to hire foreign guest workers. Georgia farmers say they rely heavily on migrant Hispanic laborers because many Americans won’t do physically taxing work in the fields.
• Also last week, a coalition of religious leaders called the Evangelical Immigration Table announced a $250,000 media ad campaign in support of a bipartisan immigration overhaul. One of the radio ads features Cynthia Hale, senior pastor at Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur.
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