Catherine E. Shoichet wrote for CNN 28 June 2011 about Paul Bridges, mayor of Uvalde, Republican mayor in the South becomes unlikely advocate for immigrants:
He thinks Governor Nathan Deal got it wrong when he signed HB 87: Continue readingBridges is waging a deeply personal battle.
Enforcement of the Georgia law could put him in prison and tear apart the families of some of his closest friends.
ATLANTA, Georgia (AFP) – A controversial immigration law in the US state of Georgia has brought unintended results, forcing farmers to reluctantly turn to ex-convicts as Latin American manual workers flee.The story quotes the figure of 11,000 needed workers, and quotes some farmers about that the state’s scheme to send people on probation to work on farms: Continue readingLow-skilled, undocumented workers, who for years have formed the backbone of this southern state’s farming economy, have bolted in the lead-up to the law taking effect on July 1, fearing deportation if caught working here.
The measure’s mainly Republican supporters argue that the state needs to enforce immigration laws in the absence of effective federal action, saying schools, jails and hospitals are overburdened by illegal aliens.
But as the full cost of the immigration reform emerges in the form of an estimated millions of dollars worth of crops rotting in fields, it could alarm other states that have passed or are considering similar strict measures.
Megan McArdle wrote in the Atlantic 21 June 2011, Georgia’s Harsh Immigration Law Costs Millions in Unharvested Crops. She started by quoting Jay Bookman, who quoted the VDT. She then goes into the economics:
Yes, that would be the problem. A law that benefits private prison company CCA at the expense of Georgia taxpayers while putting Georgia farmers out of business.The economics here aren’t particularly complicated, and I’m sure they won’t be new to the sophisticated readers of the Atlantic, but they are useful to look at and consider explicitly when thinking about issues like this.
It goes like this. If you’re not going to let illegal immigrants do the jobs they are currently being hired to do, then farmers will have to raise wages to replace them. Since farmers are taking a risk in hiring immigrant workers, you can bet they were getting a significant deal on wage costs relative to “market wages”. I put market wages here in quotations, because it’s quite possible that the wages required to get workers to do the job are so high that it’s no longer profitable for farmers to plant the crops in the first place.
She concludes: Continue reading
“Maybe this should have been prepared for, with farmers’ input. Maybe the state should have discussed the ramifications with those directly affected. Maybe the immigration issue is not as easy as &lquo;send them home,&rquo; but is a far more complex one in that maybe Georgia needs them, relies on them, and cannot successfully support the state’s No. 1 economic engine without them.”Except of course HB 87 doesn’t just send them home: it also locks up as many as it can catch, to the profit of private prison company CCA, at the expense of we the taxpayers.
That’s as quoted by Jay Bookman in the AJC 17 June 2011, Ga’s farm-labor crisis playing out as planned:
Continue readingAfter enacting House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia.
It might be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Gardeners are ready to “get dirty” following Tuesday’s Common Council passage of long-awaited leases to turn 34 vacant city-owned lots into neighborhood oases.
Lawmakers approved the leases unanimously and without debate. Some community gardeners have been eagerly awaiting the action for three years.
Mayor Byron W. Brown’s administration delayed submitting the master leases because of numerous concerns. The logjam ended late last week when city planners sent the proposed agreements to the Council for final action.
“We have our insurance signed up, so we’ll Continue reading
Patrick Davis wrote, Rural Republicans in Georgia can’t have it both ways on immigration reform
That last link is to Parolees to replace migrants? Gov. Deal says put probationers in fields by David Rodock in the VDT 15 June 2011, which included: Continue readingWith the law passed and ready for implementation, many rural farmers—especially in Central and South Georgia—are taking notice to the exodus of migrant workers and immigrants which has left some farmers without workers to pick crops.
Many of these same farmers that are hurting economically and losing crops in these rural counties had voted Republican for years.
Valdosta’s Ellis Black who represents parts of Lowndes County as a state representative helped to pass Gov. Nathan Deal’s conservative and punitive agenda and consequently it has contributed to drive an increasing number of migrant workers out of the Peach State.
This fits right in with Joe Pritchard’s rumored suggestion to replace animal shelter employees with interns.With the recent exodus of undocumented Hispanic migrant workers leaving Georgia to avoid the consequences of House Bill 87, Gov. Nathan Deal made a statement on Tuesday suggesting that probationers could potentially fill the approximately 11,000 open jobs in the state’s agricultural economy.
“Specifically, I asked Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens and (Department of Agriculture) Commissioner Gary Black to review the current situation and offer possible options,” said Deal in his statement. “Commissioner Owens has indicated that there are 100,000 probationers statewide, 8,000 of which are in the Southwest region of the state and 25 percent of which are unemployed … I believe this would be a great partial solution to our current status as we continue to move towards sustainable results with the legal options available.”
The potential move would allow probationers who are unable to find work to have a source of income, provided they are able to meet employer standards. Income can then be used to pay probation fines, along with other state fines that are a requirement of their probation sentence.
Hey, if there’s one thing Georgia is good at, it’s locking up more people even while other states realize they can’t afford to do that anymore.
So if probationers don’t want to pick onions, lock ’em up again, in the new private prison VLCIA wants to build in Lowndes County! That will benefit private prison executives and investors and not us in Lowndes County, but hey, that will serve those immigrants right!
-jsq
Amber Eady wrote for WALB, Deal requests disaster designation for Lowndes County:
Gov. Deal sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking that 22 Georgia counties be declared disaster areas because of Georgia’s ongoing drought.
Lowndes County was on that list of 22 counties that Deal wants to be declared as disaster areas.
-gretchen
Lots of people and vendors last Saturday, buying local food in downtown Valdosta!
Every other Saturday around the historic Lowndes County Courthouse
is
Downtown Valdosta Farm Days, 9AM to 1PM, May through September.
It’s organized by
Valdosta Main Street.
Amanda Peacock and shy Mara Register
explain what’s going on
at the beginning of this
playlist showing most of the vendors and the general atmosphere of community festival.
Downtown Valdosta Farm Days Grows 4 June 2011 Part 2 of 2:
, Downtown Valdosta Farm Days,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 June 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Still pictures in the flickr set.
-jsq
Hahira Market Days.
Hahira Market Days Part 1 of 3:
Hahira Market Days,
Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 June 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
