More than a thousand Georgia businesses are not complying with a key provision of Georgia’s controversial anti-immigration law, according to a complaint filed by an illegal immigration activist. Businesses could be in danger of not having access to state funds if they don’t comply.
The Georgia law requires the government employers with two or more employees file annual reports certifying that they and their contractors are using E-Verify to check the immigration status of employees. Illegal immigration activist D.A. King initiated the complaint. Since the story was broken in June by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the state Department of Audits and Accounts has sent letters to about 1,190 government agencies notifying them they were not in compliance with the law, which requires businesses to file reports by Dec. 31.
In its June warning letter, the state said businesses that didn’t file by June 25 risked losing access to state funding that included tens of millions in community development block grants. They could also receive fines of up to $5,000 from the state’s immigration enforcement panel.
The state law has also given local citizens the opportunity to become their own immigration enforcement officers. In Vidalia in Toombs County, a man named Michael Dale Smith of Twin City accused the city of giving illegal immigrants safe harbor by allowing them to live, travel and work within the city limits—an allegation the city denies. A three-member group was appointed to investigate and report its findings.