The Unintended Consequences of Georgia's Immigration Law
Ronald Reagan, the hero of the so called conservatives, once said
"are great numbers of our unemployed really victims of the illegal alien
invasion or are those illegal tourists actually doing work our own
people won't do? One thing is certain in this hungry world; no
regulation or law should
be allowed if it results in crops rotting in the fields for lack of
harvesters."
How would Reagan react to the situation in Georgia?
As you may know, Georgia passed on of the most aggressive laws to
counter illegal immigration. This is, of course, a problem. People
should enter the country using legal means. And while the vast majority
of the 11 million people who are here illegally don't cause any
problems, the bottom line is that they are in a place they are not
supposed to be.
But the problem is a complex one, and it's not
solved by easy, soundbite friendly actions. That is the tool Georgia
chose to use. It's estimated that Georgia has 425,000 people living
there illegally, which puts it in seventh place among the states.
In
response, Georgia passed a law that requires all employers with more
than four workers to use a tool called E-Verify, which links to federal
databases and provides employers with information on an applicant's
immigration status. However, many farmers who rely on migrant workers
to pick their crops don't have this system set up.
So what was the
result? Georgia urgently needs 11,000 more workers to pick crops in
their fields. Farmers are facing exactly the situation that Ronald
Reagan said should not be allowed. Crops are rotting in the fields
because nobody is there to pick them.
Georgia's response to the
worker shortage was to get people out on probation, who are facing an
unemployment rate of 15 percent, to get out in the fields. That didn't
work, as most people who took these jobs quit. Yes, in order to collect
an unemployment check, you need to look for a job and you need to
accept work that's offered to you, but the job needs to be "suitable."
So that means a laid off factory worker doesn't have to accept a job
picking crops. And those on probation do not need to accept jobs that
require back breaking work for eight bucks an hour.
This just shows how difficult the problem of illegal immigration is. Addressing it requires much more than soundbite solutions, and unfortunately, in this political environment, that's what we're getting.
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