Committee adds 5 percent surcharge to immigration bill
The Associated Press - ATLANTA
A House committee made a last-minute change to a sweeping immigration bill by adding a 5 percent surcharge on wire transfers from illegal immigrants to the proposal.
Critics immediately blasted the surcharge, which passed the House last month in a separate bill, and claimed it could prompt lawsuits from Georgia businesses as well as Hispanic groups.
It's the latest skirmish in a battle over a Republican push to crack down on illegal immigration.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Chip Rogers, denies state services to adults living in the state illegally; sanctions companies that knowingly employ undocumented workers; and imposes stiff penalties on human trafficking.
Committee members worked late into Tuesday night revising the bill to add a worker verification program, which would be administered by the state Department of Labor. Another key change would phase in rules affecting public contractors over three years.
It took less than 30 minutes on Wednesday for committee members to approve those changes and tack on the surcharge, which was originally introduced by state Rep. Tom Rice, R-Peachtree Corners.
The measure passed 7-2, with the committee's only two attending Democrats casting the no votes.
Critics of the surcharge said it will wipe out the months of work between Rogers and advocates for business, immigrant groups, anti-immigration activists and others. They argued that the business community would frown on the surcharge _ which Rice said would be dedicated to funding indigent care _ because it creates a dangerous taxing precedent.
"It's a poison pill," said state Sen. Sam Zamarripa, D-Atlanta. "It will either tank the bill or create a litigious environment."
Rogers, who said he supported the surcharge, brushed aside legal concerns.
"If they're going to sue, let them sue," he said. "I can't legislate based on fringe groups that would sue."
The debate over denying state services to illegal immigrants has been one of the hot-button issues at the Capitol and droves of activists from both sides have rallied at the Capitol.
Rogers, R-Woodstock, said he feared the debate could soon reach his family, too.
This week, the weekly Mundo Hispanico newspaper displayed a map of Rogers' Woodstock neighborhood, detailing the nearby Hispanic-owned businesses in an attempt to portray how the area would be affected by his legislation.
Rogers said the map could put his wife and four children at risk.
"Come after me all you want," he said. "But leave my kids and my wife out of it."
Juan Arango, editor of the Spanish-language newspaper, defended his decision to run the story. He said the map only gave readers a general idea of where Rogers lived, not a street name or an address.
"If we wanted to show the neighborhood and didn't show where, in a broad picture, the location of his home was, we wouldn't be giving the story the context it warrants," he said.
Arango added, "This isn't personal. It has nothing to do with him as an individual. We would never do anything to put him and his family in jeopardy."
Rogers' proposal will likely reach a full House vote Friday. It would then have to be approved by the Senate, which has already passed a version of the bill by a 40-13 vote.
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