Georgia immigration law taken to court
ATLANTA -- Georgia's new immigration reform law doesn't officially go into effect until July 1, but several civil rights organizations announced Thursday they have already filed a class action lawsuit to stop it.
The American Civil Liberties Union along with the Southern Poverty Law Center and other groups said in a news release they've filed the suit because the new law "endangers public safety, invites racial profiling of Latinos, Asians and others who appear foreign to an officer and interferes with federal law."
While legal challenges are being issued, GA Governor Governor Nathan Deal is getting angry feedback from some GA farmers.
Georgia farmers face labor shortage in wake of immigration law
ATLANTA, Ga -- Farmers throughout Georgia are complaining that a worker shortage has put their crops at risk, a result, they say, of Georgia's new immigration law.
Governor Nathan Deal is aware of the situation, and has asked the Agriculture Commissioner to investigate.
In Sumter County, a crew of 30 migrant workers picks cucumbers from a field owned by Minor Brothers Farms. Grower Dick Minor says the same crew had 45 or 50 workers last year. Migrant worker Angelo Ybarra said many of the people who worked beside him last season are now avoiding Georgia. "Immigration laws, that's why they're not coming back," said Ybarra. "Mostly they're going back to Mexico.
Georgia's new get tough immigration law doesn't go into effect for another month, but Minor is afraid his worker shortage will be 50 or more by the end of the growing season. He fears it will result in crops left in the field.
The farmer interviewed in the video clip above, said the law is driving away workers with papers, and that he placed ads for workers at the local Labor Dept, and got no takers. He states his opinion about why migrant workers with papers aren't showing up:
"We think it's the perception of the bill," said Minor. "The perception of being harassed, of being checked out by every law enforcement officer in the state, everywhere they go."
The SPLC reports:
SPLC, Allied Groups Sue Georgia to Stop Controversial Immigration Law
The Southern Poverty Law Center today joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the Asian Law Caucus in filing a class action lawsuit challenging Georgia's new anti-immigrant law, passed last month and inspired by Arizona's notorious SB 1070.
The Georgia law authorizes police to demand "papers" demonstrating citizenship or immigration status during traffic stops, criminalizes Georgians who interact with undocumented individuals, and makes it unjustifiably difficult for individuals without specific identification documents to access state facilities and services. The lawsuit charges that the law endangers public safety, invites the racial profiling of Latinos, Asians and others who appear foreign to an officer, and interferes with federal law.
"This law undermines our core American values of fairness and equality," said Mary Bauer, legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "By perpetuating the hate rhetoric that has become commonplace among many elected officials, this law threatens the rights of citizens and non-citizens alike by encouraging racial profiling. Sadly, too, it places Georgia on the wrong side of history."
Meanwhile in Utah, an LGBT group has filed an amicus brief against that state's law:
Utah Immigration Law Challenged
Immigration Equality filed an amicus brief Thursday in support of a constitutional challenge to a recently enacted Utah immigration law, arguing the measure would criminalize LGBT Americans who live with undocumented partners from abroad.
According to Immigration Equality, the Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act, similar to the controversial law passed last year in Arizona, contains a provision that criminalizes “harboring” and “sheltering” undocumented individuals, which poses a direct threat to LGBT binational families. The group argued against the law in the amicus brief filed with pro bono support from the law firm of Wilmer, Hale and the Utah Legal Clinic.
The brief cites a Utah couple who wished to remain anonymous for fear of prosecution. One partner is a lifelong state resident and social worker who may decide to leave Utah because his partner, who was in training to become a doctor, overstayed his visa and cannot be sponsored for residency, unlike the options for straight couples.
I'm really glad to see this coalition coming together.
People's Daily documents Asian activism in Utah as well:
Members of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice last Friday requested a Utah district court judge to issue an injunction that prevents Utah's new immigration enforcement bill, HB 497, from taking effect.
Leading a diverse coalition of 22 civil rights organizations, including those in Utah, the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), Asian American Institute and Asian Law Caucus filed an amicus curiae, or friend- of-the-court, brief to support the plaintiffs in Utah Coalition of La Raza v. Herbert.
"It is the role of the federal government, not the states, to fix our broken immigration system," said Karen Narasaki, AAJC's president and executive director.
"If implemented, Utah's draconian law will invite racial profiling, divert law enforcement, separate families and criminalize citizens. Furthermore, it encourages a law enforcement scheme where families will fear that every trip out of their home may potentially result in a night in police detention," said Narasaki in a statement.
There will be more legal challenges in the weeks and months ahead - and it's going to be interesting to see how State elected officials deal with the farmers who helped put them in office.