In this Dec. 10, 2010 file photo, a worker tears off the leaves of a Vidalia onion plant before planting its roots into the soil on an onion farm in Lyons, Ga.. A Georgia state lawmaker on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 filed legislation that targets illegal immigrants in the work force and is drawing criticism from the state’s No. 1 industry, agriculture. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)ATLANTA – A Georgia state lawmaker on Thursday filed legislation that targets illegal immigrants in the work force and is drawing criticism from several fronts, including the state’s No. 1 industry, agriculture.
Like a bill filed last week in the Georgia House of Representatives, the proposal from state Sen. Jack Murphy and other Republican senators would require all private employers to use a federal database to check that new hires are in the country illegally. But, unlike the House bill, it includes exemptions for employers who use certain work visa programs.
“What we want to do is have the employers … check on their employees to make sure that they’re in this country legally, working legally under the proper visas,” Murphy told reporters.
The exemption would include the H2-A visa program, which allows farmers to bring in workers from other countries for seasonal work. The program is very unpopular with the state’s farmers, who say it is cumbersome and expensive.
Growers in Georgia employ illegal immigrants and other laborers to plant and harvest labor-intensive crops, particularly fruits and vegetables easily bruised by machines.