Barrow said he supports efforts to curb illegal immigration and the E-Verify system that forces employers to check the immigration status of prospective hires. But he said such changes must be adopted on the federal level.
State-level mandates, like the one adopted in Georgia earlier this year, merely place the state at competitive disadvantage and have resulted in an exodus of cheap labor into neighboring states that don't have the hiring requirements, he said.
``They're laughing all the way to harvest, laughing all the way to the bank,'' the Georgia Democrat said.
The law, Barrow said, was ``insensitive to the need for legal seasonal labor.''
Farmers that figure heavily in Barrow's new district have complained that the new law has scared workers away.
U.S. Rep. John Barrow
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/9/242291