Poll indicates support for Georgia illegal immigration crackdown
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Jimmye Grimes (clockwise from top left), Frank Redwine, Giles Chapman, Gail Johnson
(Click to see larger.)
The poll asked registered voters across the state whether they would support giving “state and local law enforcement the power to ask people already stopped for possible violations of the law to show proof they are in the country legally and then arrest those that could not provide such proof.”
A large majority — 68 percent — said they would support doing so, while 24 percent said they would not. The rest were undecided.
Douglas Genge, a high school science teacher from Lawrenceville, was among those polled who said he would support bringing an Arizona-style law here.
“We need to enforce our laws. And if the federal government is not going to enforce our laws, then the state has the obligation to protect us,” he said. “They have broken the law coming into the country, so they need to be arrested for it. … They are utilizing our health care system, our school system, our tax money to be here.”
Michael Smith, an insurance underwriter from Johns Creek, said he wouldn’t support such a law in Georgia.
“It honestly just doesn’t feel like that it is right or the American way,” he said. “Plus, how do you even police a law like that without some type of racial profiling? I mean, do you not then stop a German person or an African person and say, ‘Hey, do you have your legal papers?’ Again, the whole thing really doesn’t sit well when you think about how America has been birthed and how we have always opened our
doors as much as we can to individuals who seek a better life.”
Rome retiree Frank Redwine, 74, weighed in on the issue Friday.
“I don’t think we’re in as bad shape as others. There are lots of illegals in the state just like others, especially the border states.
“I’ll say that it needs to be controlled because there are too many people who want to work but don’t want to pay taxes,” he said.
Some say it’s a difficult problem to solve.
“I think it’s a very complicated issue. I don’t think it’s right to make it a black-and-white issue. It’s a very difficult issue to ad-
dress. So do I think they’re doing enough? I don’t know,” said Gail Johnson, 53, director of Continuing Education and Business Expansion at Georgia Northwestern Technical College in Rome.
Illegal immigration is the subject of a long-running and heated debate in Georgia — and a central theme in this year’s gubernatorial election. And all for good reason.
Georgia is actually home to more “unauthorized immigrants” than Arizona, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report. The report says 480,000 illegal immigrants were living in Georgia as of January of last year, while 460,000 were in Arizona. Georgia ranks sixth among states in these statistics, behind California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois, respectively. Arizona is seventh.
The issue attracted more attention in Georgia this year when state officials discovered Kennesaw State University had erroneously charged an illegal immigrant student in-state tuition, when she should have been charged the out-of-state rate, which is about three times more expensive.
Critics say illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from Georgians in the midst of a recession that has driven the state’s unemployment rate as high as 10.5 percent. They also complain illegal immigrants are burdening the state’s public school systems and emergency rooms. Supporters say immigrant workers are vital to the state’s agricultural industry and are boosting Georgia’s economy by spending their hard-earned money here. Both sides agree the nation’s immigration system is broken, but they disagree on how to fix it.
Republicans, men and white voters showed the strongest support for the Arizona law in this month’s newspaper poll. A majority of Democrats, and women who were surveyed for the poll said they also are in favor of the law, though in smaller numbers.
Walt Alexander, an air traffic controller from Kathleen in Middle Georgia, said he would support a tougher immigration law because existing laws are not being enforced.
“They’re lawbreakers,” he said. “There’s no difference in an illegal alien crossing our borders and getting into our country illegally than it is for somebody to go into a Walmart and shoplift.”
Deborah Houston, an insurance broker from Brunswick, said she would support enforcing an Arizona-style law in Georgia.
“Obviously, the federal government isn’t going to do anything,” she said. “To them, it is too politically incorrect. And that is not how our country works. You are welcome, but you have to follow the rules. You can’t just sneak over here and take advantage of everything that every American has worked for.”
Not all Georgia women agree on this issue. For example, Shaye Gambrell, a church administrator from Athens, opposes stricter immigration enforcement.
“It’s a waste of money,” she said, “and I don’t think it is something that can be done fairly without profiling.”
As a single group, blacks registered the lowest support, with 47 percent in favor. “It’s a bad idea because it’s stereotyping,” Joe Cystrunk of Macon, said. “Being a black American, I mean, come on, that’s the last thing we need in Georgia.”
Cystrunk said enforcing immigration laws should be left to the federal government.
“For Arizona to jump the gun like that and not give (President Barack) Obama a chance is a slap in the face to him, but hopefully he can get it together and do something. They’ve got to do something,” Cystrunk said.
Advocates on both sides of the immigration debate reacted to the poll differently this week.
“I understand the public’s frustration with it, but that doesn’t mean we need to pass unconstitutional provisions to make the public happy,” said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
D.A. King, president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which advocates enforcement of U.S. immigration and employment laws, said he was not surprised by poll results that show support for the Arizona law.
“Most people,” King said, “realize the organized crime of illegal immigration is opposed by the huge majority of the American people.”
Back in Rome, Giles Chapman, 71, says something needs to be done.
“I really think we need to be vigilant about what’s happening
with illegal immigration. I’m concerned that those people are moving to Georgia and getting into employment positions that could be worked by Georgia citizens,” he said.
“I think it’s a problem that’s not manageable,” said Jimmye Grimes, 66, of Silver Creek. “It’s something that hasn’t been
controlled so now it’s gotten completely out of hand.”
AJC staff writer Steve Visser, Kevin Myrick of the Rome News-Tribune, Rodney Manley of the Macon Telegraph and Blake Aued of the Athens Banner-Herald contributed to this article. THE POLL The Georgia Newspaper Partnership poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, D.C., from July 8 through July 13, 2010. 625 likely voters were polled on general questions. The telephone interviews were randomly selected and distributed across Georgia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/17/AR2010071701402.html?hpid=moreheadlines
I don't see anything changing. There are several illegals working on each of the new construction projects in this town, ala...Floyd Hospital/Barron Stadium/Zaxbys/Steak and Shake.
This is the new South, where slave labor has been replaced by day labor, plantation owner replaced by construction company owner. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.
Bush did nothing.
Now when Democrats are in power the Republicans make it an issue with Democrats as the villains.
On a related note I see where pundits are beginning to hint and push for Jeb Bush as the next Republican presidential candidate.
It appears that after his leaving office the Bush family told George to STFU. "Just STFU George. You will hurt Jebs chances".
How long before we hear Jeb making a public statement like "I'm not my brother" ("I'm not a idiot")?
The Pew Hispanic Center's findings are based on the most extensive examination of the U.S. remittance transfer industry ever conducted. No government agencies or industry associations systematically collect data on the costs of transfer services, market shares or the types of products on the market. As a result, data had to be developed for this study by soliciting information from a wide array of individual companies.
Cost information was gathered from 84 companies offering remittance transfer services, representing the most active firms in the market as well as some recent entrants. In addition, 60 financial institutions provided pricing and product information on remittance transfer services, and executives at 22 of those institutions--14 banks and 8 credit unions--were interviewed in depth about efforts to offer a broader array of financial services, such as savings and checking accounts, to remittance senders. Some of the major findings of the study include:
Since the late 1990s the cost of sending a $200 remittance to Mexico has fallen by half from about 15 percent of the amount sent to 7.32 percent in early 2004. However, most of the reduction took place at the beginning of this time span. By 2001 the cost stood at 8.07% and the declines have been minor since then. Meanwhile, the amount of money sent to Mexico has increased dramatically from $9.2 billion in 2001 to $13.2 billion in 2003, a growth of 43 percent.
With increased competition new products have come on the market that offer lower prices for senders who transmit larger amounts. The cost of sending the amount of an average remittance to Mexico, now nearing $400, has come down somewhat more quickly in recent years, from 6.29 percent of the amount sent in 2001 to 4.4 percent in 2004.
Using this measure of costs--the price of the average amount sent--banks and credit unions do not offer a significant advantage to the consumer in the U.S.-Mexico remittance market. The cost of sending an average remittance by banks is 4.1 percent which is only slightly below the average for the entire marketplace which is 4.4 percent.
Despite substantial marketing campaigns and very large investments over the past three years, U.S. banks have only captured a small fraction of the remittance transfer market. The four largest banks in this field--Citibank, Wells Fargo, Harris Bank and Bank of America--conduct less than 100,000 remittance transactions a month. The vast majority go to Mexico. In 2003, an estimated 40 million remittance transactions carried money from the United States to Mexico which means the banks have captured about three percent of that market.
Marketing campaigns designed to encourage Latino immigrants to open accounts with banks and credit unions, often with remittance services as an enticement, have had somewhat more success. About 400,000 new accounts have been opened as a result of these efforts. That is about 5 percent of the estimated eight million Hispanic immigrants who currently do not have bank accounts.
The Pew Hispanic Center (www.pewhispanic.org), a non-partisan research organization, is a project of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
People that have a green car are NOT illegal immigrants.
Looks to me like you are trying to start a war with misinformation.
Ever thought about running for office???
This to let people know what is going on in the United States of America. We are losing jobs, benefits, and healthcare from a variety of ways: companies moving out of the country, illegal immigrants coming in to the country and the USA allow immigrants to come in on a visa to live tax free for seven years. History has been repeating itself for years. We have to do something to help the economy or there will be no future for our children or our grandchildren. Make stiffer laws, with the money orders being sent out of the country; make it harder for the illegal immigrants to get any of the government assistance such as: Food Stamps, Medicaid, Medicare, Unemployment Benefits; and most of all, the United States needs to start doing back ground checks (even double check) to see if the identification is legal or not. Then if it is not, hold them in whatever business they are in until the Authorities or Immigration Department can get there to deport them back to their country. If there are children involved, then the children should have to go back to the parent’s homeland.
I for one know firsthand how it is to lose your job by the illegal immigrants coming into our country. Back in 1979, I was out sick for three days, I had a doctor’s note I had relative’s working for the same company I was working at. My mother forgot to call in one day, which was the middle day of me being out of work. The company knew I was sick, but they told me on that Friday that I was fired! When in a few days, they started bring in illegal immigrants from Mexico. There was a billboard sign out in New Mexico that had these words on it: “Tax Free Jobs in Cedartown, Georgia!” There were people who worked for the man who owned the company, they would drive out to New Mexico, and bring back an eighteen-wheeler full of illegal immigrants who would work for his company and just bring them into the United States. I do not understand how things like this happen, and most of all how the government allows it to happen.
Take the number of the illegal immigrants, which are employed, or the illegal immigrants, which have a green card to work in the US for seven years, own their own business, which was once owned by Americans and not pay taxes. For all the illegal immigrants who are working, and do not pay taxes, send their money back to their country, this is revenue that is being lost, because the job opportunities lost for those who pay taxes, and by them sending the money back home to their country. Here are some examples of the unemployment figures of today’s economy:
(Division of Labor Force Statistics)
HOUSEHOLD DATA - Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age
Employment status, race, sex, and age Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted(1)
May
2009 Apr.
2010 May
2010 Jan.
2010 Feb.
2010 Mar.
2010 Apr.
2010 May
2010
WHITE
Civilian Noninstitutional Population 190,667 191,749 191,856 191,454 191,552 191,648 191,749 191,856
Employed 115,444 114,302 114,438 113,797 113,865 114,108 114,484 114,359
Unemployed 10,398 10,760 10,579 10,782 10,982 10,945 11,295 11,070
Unemployment rate 8.3 8.6 8.5 8.7 8.8 8.8 9.0 8.8
BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN
C.N.P. 28,184 28,624 28,653 28,526 28,559 28,591 28,624 28,653
Civilian labor force 17,649 17,868 17,926 17,749 17,748 17,871 17,951 17,983
Employed 15,047 15,020 15,188 14,820 14,936 14,920 14,985 15,189
Unemployed 2,603 2,848 2,738 2,929 2,812 2,951 2,966 2,794
Unemployment rate 14.7 15.9 15.3 16.5 15.8 16.5 16.5 15.5
ASIAN
C.N.P. 10,855 11,138 11,166 - - - - -
Civilian labor force 7,170 7,300 7,236 - - - - -
Employed 6,690 6,806 6,692 - - - - -
Unemployed 480 494 544 - - - - -
Unemployment rate 6.7 6.8 7.5 - - - - -
Not in labor force 3,685 3,838 3,930 - - - - -
HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
C.N.P. 32,753 33,498 33,578 33,251 33,335 33,414 33,498 33,578
Civilian labor force 22,299 22,554 22,633 22,578 22,648 22,707 22,684 22,789
Employed 19,673 19,872 20,033 19,730 19,848 19,848 19,850 19,953
Unemployed 2,626 2,682 2,600 2,848 2,800 2,859 2,834 2,836
Unemployment rate 11.8 11.9 11.5 12.6 12.4 12.6 12.5 12.4
Not in labor force 10,455 10,944 10,945 10,674 10,687 10,706 10,814 10,789
With the way, things are going the government will be indebted more than they are right now. Due to the facts, which is easy to look at, illegal immigrants get free Medicare, free Food Stamps, and they live tax-free. So where is the revenue for those people, it goes mostly back to their country.
(Daniel Gallington) WASHINGTON - Mexican workers in the U.S. send an estimated $23 billion back home every year, typically in small amounts. Officially, these transfers are called "remittances" – just for some current perspective, it is more than Mexico's total annual tourism revenue, and until recently it was larger than their annual oil revenue!
Because of the variables and unknowns in determining the accuracy of these transfers, the official figures are estimates. In addition, because many of the "remitters" may be illegal immigrants working here illegally, the "real" numbers could be staggering – maybe even two or three times the estimates.
Simple question: Why don't we put a bunch of smart people (including some economists, bank regulators and some federal and state prosecutors) in a room and ask them how we use this powerful bit of data in a way to reduce one of the main incentives for illegal immigration from Mexico?
Here is some of what they would want to know:
* Who is supporting these transactions in the U.S.: Banks, private currency exchanges, private individuals? Are illegal workers simply buying postal or super market money orders and sending them back home? Is part of a solution to require proof of citizenship to buy money orders and to keep track of who buys them?
We are going to have to enforce more laws, to regulate the problems from so many illegal immigrants in the United States. The law makers are going to have to enforce them, and send the one’s home to their own country.
If we could make the process for smaller transfers more difficult, we might be forcing the "system" to make larger transfers; therefore they would be easier to "see" – hence easier to prevent.
* Are illegal workers simply putting cash in envelopes and mailing them off to Mexico? It would seem easy enough to centrally accumulate these and "look" more carefully at them - using new sensors and technologies if necessary - and to divert these transfers in one way or another. If new legal authorities were needed to do this, we should be getting them from Congress.
One of our basic public policy goals in this exercise should be to allow the legal Mexican immigrant to send reasonable amounts of money to Mexico for a very low or even no fee – this to encourage legal immigration.
Another basic policy goal would be to effectively prevent the illegal immigrant here from transferring any money anywhere, hence removing a main incentive to immigrate here illegally.
In addition, as we are talking about a uniquely federal and/or interstate regime – some kind of negotiable transfer is ultimately being made by wire or some physical currency exchange is being made. This means we can most probably control it by comprehensive legislation, implementing regulations and aggressive law enforcement – and this could be just as effective as building walls and more heavily policing the borders.
Perhaps part of the problem is on the Mexican end, where we can discover wide scale corruption involved in the remittance process. However, this wouldn't seem to prevent an effective solution on our end, because the money comes from the U.S. in the first place, hence is subject to control during its most important phases: The conversion of our currency into transferable units and actually transferring it.
If we were successful, the simple "loud and clear" message to potential immigrants in Mexico would be: "Don't come to the U.S. illegally because you won't be able to send the money you earn here, back home – however, if you come here legally you can do it".
That's a very good message, and we should be figuring out how to send it – it's every bit as important as physical border security, perhaps even more. Daniel Gallington is a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington.
If you read this article, you will be amazed at how thing are playing out in our country. If you thing about it, the enormous bills, which illegal immigrants leave unpaid at American hospitals. Which in turns leaves the hospital’s with two choices, one is to have the people who pay their bills pay more for their items to offset the difference, or operate annually at a loss and eventually close the doors.
In 2003, the American Southwest saw 77 hospitals enter bankruptcy due to unpaid medical bills incurred by illegal immigrants. Over the last several years, a staggering 84 hospitals in California alone have been forced out of business due to the growing crisis. When women on the verge of giving birth make their way across the U.S. border to have their baby in an American hospital, these children become infamous “Anchor Babies” so prized by their criminal parents. Once the child is born on American soil, he or she instantly attains U.S. citizenship. Not only are the parents almost always allowed to stay, but since they have no income, the baby is eligible for welfare, WIC, Food Stamps, etc…--all at the expense of the great American taxpayer. At one of North Carolina’s Goshen Medical Centers, a nursing assistant told USA Today in 2008, about an illegal immigrant who arrived more than eight months pregnant with her eighth child! (Gibson)
The following table shows estimates of the illegal immigrant population by state by the INS, DHS4 and the Pew Hispanic Center5 as well as the current estimates by FAIR. (Numbers are thousands). (Reform)
The numbers are so outrageous, just think of what it will be like for our children and grandchild when they get older. We the people of the United States need to go back in time and do what Our Four Fathers did!
Back during the early years of the Great Depression, and then President Herbert Hoover ordered the deportation of all illegal aliens in order to make the jobs available to American citizens that desperately needed work. Approximately one-million Mexicans were sent home during this endeavor. Once again in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower deported 1.3 million Mexican nationals (called ‘Operation Wetback’) in order that returning American WWII and Korean veterans had a better chance at jobs. (The Federal Observer) So, if President’s of the United States of America can do things to help our country, then why cannot the United States of America do something now to help before it is too late, if it isn’t already!
We the people of the United States of America need to start protesting all of the things that are going on, by now shopping at the places of business that are owned by illegal immigrants. Get people to sign petition about the way illegal immigrants are get more benefits that they should not be getting, any other ideas to get things going in the right direction. Be sure to write to our congressmen and women of the U.S. House and U.S., and the President too! Explain why, if we do not do anything now that we will not have anything at all in a few more years, because the United States of America is going to be so far in debt that our great-great grand children will not have any benefits at all. We all have to do something, and get involved with making a difference.
Work Sites
Division of Labor Force Statistics; United States Department of Labor; http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm; June 4, 2010
Gallington, Daniel; The Examiner; http://www.examiner.com/a-1321600~Use_money_transfers_to_stop_illegal_immigrants.html; April 4, 2010
Gibson, Dave; The Examiner; http://www.examiner.com/x-35821-Immigration-Reform-Examiner~y2010m1d26-Send-illegal-aliens-packinghealthcare-crisis-will-end;
January 26, 2010.
Reform, FAIR - Federation for American Immigration; http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page= NewsArticle&id=16859&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1007; [5] Pew Hispanic Center estimates of the illegal immigration population are stated as a range, e.g., Capfornia 2.5 million to 2.75 million. The chart shows the mid-point of the estimate, e.g. California 2.625 million; November 2008.
The Federal Observer; http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=11145; June 9, 2010