I hear Macon is not compliant.
The Georgia Immigration and Compliance Act requires companies with government contracts to use a federal database to screen new employees to ensure they are eligible to work in the United States and to provide a sworn statement to the government. It also requires that new applicants for public benefits be screened to verify their eligibility.D.A. King, head of the Dustin Inman Society, which pushes for stricter laws to combat illegal immigration, said at a news conference Monday at the state Capitol that local governments are flouting the law. He said he plans to lobby during the current legislative session, which started Monday, for measures to promote enforcement.
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Most of them will say it’s an unfunded mandate. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that used. Very few will say out loud that the State can’t make them do anything about it.
Macon is not. Less than a dozen Georgia governments have enrolled in S.A.V.E. for the purpose of verifying applicants for public benefits… a couple of counties, a couple of cities and the rest are state agencies. Only one or two entities have enrolled for the purpose of verifying applicants for a business license, which is a “public benefit.”
Gwinnett recently began to require the affidavit of eligibility from business license applicants, but is only requiring them of sole proprietorships and sole member LLCs due to legal’s interpretation of the phrase “natural person” as used in the law to define to whom the requirement applies. Partnerships and corporations (legitimate or not) don’t even have to submit the affidavits, under Gwinnett’s interpretation.
The “unfunded mandate” argument is specious; although there is a cost of 50 cents per submission through S.A.V.E., only non-citizen applicants must be screened. For citizens, the affidavit suffices. Also, the time that it takes to actually submit the query is minimal.
D.A. Don King is from Macon. He used to live on Northside Drive in the 80s.
eric, start with the gdot and wrafb subcontractors and work your way down to macon.
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