Law targets illegal residents

DALTON, Ga. -- Residents applying for city business and alcohol sales licenses and a laundry list of other public benefits now must clear a federal screening process to prove they are in the country legally.

City Clerk Bernadette Chattam said applicants must have a notarized affidavit as proof of citizenship or an alien registration number.

City employees will check to make sure the numbers match the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"SAVE has to be done for every public benefit, "anytime somebody gets something from the government," City Attorney Jim Bisson said.

Dalton leaders are complying with a new state law.

It's not new that governments in Georgia are required to use SAVE before distributing public benefits. The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2007, formerly Senate Bill 529, set up the requirement.

However, Rep. Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, said House Bill 2, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2010, "put some teeth" into the bill.

"Basically, what we're trying to do is keep an eye on each of the local governments," said Rep. Lindsey. "This is primarily a reporting and information statute from the General Assembly."

Amy Henderson, public information manager for the Georgia Municipal Association, said most local governments must have the SAVE program in place by the first of the year.

But Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, said the new law doesn't establish "any real enforcement mechanism at the state level."

"I think that we would be best served with a comprehensive immigration reform solution at the federal level rather than creating confusion at the local level about what to do and how to comply with these immigration laws," he said.

He also said the new law could deter foreign business investors, which is "not good for economic development."

Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton, disagreed.

"If we're enforcing the laws and trying to make sure that people are legally here, I think that's what foreign investors would want," he said.

Ms. Chattam said her department is starting to train on the SAVE program. The clerk's office sends out annual renewals for alcohol and occupational sales tax licenses, and this is the first year staffers are attaching the SAVE affidavit, she said.

Deputy City Clerk Luis V. Villavizar said they've mailed out renewals for alcohol sales licenses and, of the 97 that have been returned so far, about 25 percent will require verifying alien registration numbers for noncitizens through SAVE.

Ms. Chattam said her department will find out how much work is added when workers mail out about 1,900 occupational sales tax renewals in the next few weeks.

"That's when you're going to see how much trouble it is," she said.