Apparently, every rainbow has a silver lining. The effects of Chip Rogers’ Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act [ SB 529]are starting to be seen more than a year before the law begins to go into effect!

Mortgage lenders who have been allowed to make loans to illegal aliens – encouraging an illegal to remain in the U.S is a federal crime– along with their equally guilty partners, real estate agents operating the same racket, are now complaining that illegal aliens don’t seem too excited about moving to, remaining in or buying a house in Georgia.

The news of Senator Rogers’ intended consequence has reached California and is reported by the Los Angeles Times. [Our pal Terry Anderson refers to that AJC of the left coast as “LATIMES“]

Georgia Law Chills Latino Home-Buying Market

By Jenny Jarvie, [LA] Times Staff Writer
June 19, 2006

ATLANTA — Two months ago, all Alina Arguello had to do to find Latino home buyers was put up a sign and answer her phone.

But ever since Georgia passed one of the most stringent and far-reaching immigration laws in the nation, the number of Latino buyers who call the Re/Max agent’s home office in suburban Atlanta has dwindled from about 10 to two a day.

“We’re seeing a drastic drop,” she said. “There’s just a tremendous amount of people who want homes, but are not calling.” Many real estate agents and mortgage providers who cater to Spanish-speaking immigrants across Georgia say that the flourishing Latino home buying market has faltered since April, when Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act.

Almost immediately, Latino home buyers pulled out of contracts. Some who had already bought, put their homes on the market. And many prospective buyers stopped searching for homes.

Although Georgia’s new legislation does not prohibit illegal immigrants from owning property, many wonder whether they will want to live in Georgia when it begins to come into effect in July 2007.

The law will require companies with state contracts to verify employees’ immigration status, penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, curtail many government benefits to illegal immigrants and require that jailers check the immigration status of anyone who is charged with a felony or driving under the influence.

As is the habit of writers and papers with an agenda [the AJC pops into my head again] LATIMES describes the effect on “Latinos” instead of people who are in our country illegally [ a federal crime].

SB 529 is not aimed at Latinos or any other ethnic group. It is aimed at illegal employers and aliens.

The report does get around to mentioning the illegals though:

Diego Castaneda, a real estate agent and loan officer in Norcross, Ga., had two clients — illegal immigrants from Mexico — who were a week away from closing on homes in Atlanta’s northern suburbs when they pulled out of their contracts.

We like Senator Rogers’ quote from the “LATIMES” article:

State Sen. Chip Rogers, a Republican who represents some of Atlanta’s northern suburbs and who sponsored the legislation, said he was “very satisfied” that the law seemed to be prompting some illegal immigrants to consider leaving Georgia.

That illegals are hesitant to come or remain here, that employers are now worrying about legal status of new hires and that profiteering mortgage lenders are whining proves that enforcement, – even the promise of future enforcement – works.

Thank you Senator Rogers!