Talk Gwinnett

Gwinnett Cities, County Ignore State Immigration Law
By Bob Griggs, Publisher 06-17-2008

Almost 18 months after Georgia enacted one of the toughest illegal immigration laws in the nation, neither the county nor a single Gwinnett city has fully complied with the new requirements regarding eligibility for public benefits.

S.B. 529, enacted as the “Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act,” went into effect on July 1, 2007. The law requires any employer doing business with a state or local government to verify the eligibility of their new employees through the federal E-Verify system. It also defines several new crimes including trafficking a person for labor servitude, as well as requires jails and prisons to determine the legal status of all arrestees.

But it is the provision regarding eligibility for public benefits that Gwinnett’s cities and county government continue to ignore.

A Political Football Fumbled

In District 1, where the arguably largest illegal immigrant population is found, former Duluth Mayor Shirley Lasseter’s solution is to court the Feds to build a new prison in Gwinnett while challenger Carol Hassell accuses her of having practically presided over a “sanctuary city” in Duluth.

The candidates for County Commission Chairman have alternately claimed credit for the county’s immigration efforts to date and accused each other of stealing campaign promises. As the D-1 Commissioner, Lorraine Green led the push for tougher restrictions on employers holding county contracts while incumbent Charles Bannister has promised to “enact an ordinance blocking illegal immigrants from obtaining business licenses,” should he be reelected.

Bannister’s promise rings a little hollow, however, since SB-529 required the county to verify the citizenship status of business license applicants– a year-and-a-half ago…

Read the rest here.