ATLANTA – With the arrival of the new year, a key section of Georgia’s new law targeting illegal immigration will begin to take effect.
Starting Jan. 1, any employer with 500 or more employees will have to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of all new hires. Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, author of the law, said from the start that his main goal was to deter illegal immigrants from coming to Georgia by making it tougher for them to work in the state.
The E-Verify requirement is being phased in slowly. It will take effect for employers with 100 or more employees on July 1 and for employers with more than 10 employees a year later on July 1, 2013.
Another key provision that takes effect Jan. 1 is one that requires any agency that administers public benefits to require each applicant to provide at least one “secure and verifiable document.” A list of acceptable documents was provided by the attorney general’s office over the summer. The agency administering public benefits must also complete a signed statement verifying the applicant’s legal presence in the country.
The new law also instructs the state agriculture department to submit a report to the governor and the heads of each chamber of the state Legislature by Jan. 1. The department was tasked with examining the effect of immigration on the state’s agriculture industry and providing suggestions to reform a federal guest worker program. The department was also supposed to evaluate the feasibility of a state guest worker program.