Georgia Passes Tough AZ-Style Immigration Law

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Following Arizona's lead, the Georgia Legislature on Thursday passed a strict measure that would empower police to check the immigration status of "criminal" suspects and force many businesses to do the same with potential employees.

The bill passed in the waning hours of the legislative session despite critics' outcries. Immigrant advocates threatened a state boycott if it became law, and Georgia's powerful agricultural industry warned, among other things, that federal guest worker programs alone could not provide enough laborers to meet farmers' needs.

Now the measure heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who campaigned last year on the promise of implementing an Arizona-style law in a state with, according to one 2009 estimate, 480,000 illegal immigrants — about 20,000 more than Arizona.

Since his election, however, Deal has warned that immigration laws should not place an "undue burden" on employers, raising concerns among foes of illegal immigration that he was wobbling.

A Deal spokesman declined to comment late Thursday on the governor's plans for the bill.

Whether or not it is enacted, Georgia's legislation underscores the increasingly disparate strategies that states are invoking in lieu of a comprehensive federal plan to deal with illegal immigration.

On Monday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge's order striking down parts of the controversial Arizona law, known as SB 1070, which was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last year. Among the rejected sections was a provision requiring police to check the immigration status of people they lawfully stop whom they also suspect to be illegal immigrants.

Some states, including Florida, are considering significant immigration bills, but others, including Nebraska and Colorado, have rejected such bills recently. Utah passed immigration-control legislation last month but softened its effects by also passing a law that creates "guest worker" ID cards for undocumented immigrants.

And just this week, Maryland's General Assembly passed a bill that would grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants (as California does). Maryland's governor was expected to sign it. Georgia is one of several states that denies in-state tuition to illegal immigrant residents.