July 2, 2013
www.gfb.org
Vol. 31 No. 27
SENATE PASSES IMMIGRATION BILL; GA. E-VERIFY RULE IN EFFECT The U.S. Senate passed the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) by a 68-32 vote on June 27. Georgia Farm Bureau supported passage of the bill, which sets up a “blue card” program that allows experienced agricultural workers the opportunity to obtain legal immigration status after passing background checks and paying a fine. “This is an encouraging step that keeps the possibility of meaningful immigration reform alive. While the bill wasn’t perfect, we would have no hope of Congress reforming our current flawed immigration policy without the Senate passing its bill, ” said GFB President Zippy Duvall. “Hopefully the House will pass an immigration reform bill this summer. Then, the two chambers can resolve their differences in conference committee to finalize an ag labor program that will ease the problems Georgia farmers have in finding labor to plant and harvest their crops.” The bill was introduced in the Senate in April by the so-called “Gang of Eight.” It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in May. In addition to the blue card program, S. 744 creates a new, less cumbersome guest worker program for agriculture. Farmers, particularly those in small operations, have found difficulty accessing the number of laborers they need to plant and harvest their crops. Once the new plan is in place, the current H-2A program would be phased out. Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson voted against S. 744. The U.S. House has multiple bills concerning immigration, including one that sets up an agricultural guestworker program. In another immigration-related development, the last portion of Georgia’s mandatory E-Verify requirements went into effect on July 1. Under HB 87, the immigration law passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2011, employers who had 11 or more full-time employees on Jan. 1 must now use E-Verify to screen new hires. The requirement was already in effect for employers with more than 100 employees as of January 1 each year. In order to obtain or renew any county or city business license, occupational tax certificate or any other document required to operate a business, employers are required to sign an affidavit attesting that they use E-Verify on all new prospective employees. For more information on E-Verify, visit http://www.dhs.gov/e-verify.