Governments not following Ga. immigration law

ATLANTA - One year after Georgia lawmakers passed a tough immigration law, a newspaper investigation found that many city and county governments are not in compliance.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that state officials are preparing a mass mailing this week to remind governments that their state funding could be in jeopardy if they don't follow the law. The law passed a year ago aims to block illegal immigrants from taking jobs from U.S. citizens and stop taxpayer support for government contractors who are not authorized to work in the United States.

It requires the majority of private employers, government agencies and contractors to use a federal work authorization program called E-Verify to be sure workers are authorized to work in the United State. But few governments have filed the required reports on time and they could lose critical state money that helps maintain jails, manage development encourage commerce and boost employment.

State records show that of the 2,324 local and state government agencies tracked by the state, 1,176 did not file reports by the Dec. 31 deadline. Small businesses are exempted from the law, but it's difficult to tell how many companies qualify for that exemption.

State Rep. Matt Ramsey, a Republican from Peachtree City who authored the law, said he's monitoring the law's implementation.

"I don't think anyone that worked on (it) believed there would be universal compliance in the relatively short time it has been in effect, given how sweeping and comprehensive the changes are in that law," Ramsey told the newspaper.

Some government officials say the law is confusing and difficult to follow. And the newspaper found that it is impossible for the state to confirm that private employers are using E-Verify because of state and federal record keeping.

Parts of the law took effect July 1, 2011, but other parts are tied up in federal appeals court in Atlanta after civil and immigrants' rights groups filed a lawsuit.

Private companies employ the vast majority of workers in Georgia, with governments making up about 15 percent of the workforce. In all, nearly 19,000 public and private employers are enrolled in E-Verify but it's tough to confirm who is enrolled because state and federal government databases make cross-checking impossible.