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“How much would it cost to give farmworkers a significant raise in pay, even if it was paid for entirely by consumers? The answer is, not that much. About the price of a couple of 12-packs of beer, a large pizza, or a nice bottle of wine.”

• Related reading: It’s not 1859. Let’s raise the pay for farmworkers here legally.

A 40% increase in pay would cost a typical family just $25 per household annually

Oct. 2020

“So, what would it cost to raise the wages of farmworkers? One of the few big wage increases for farmworkers occurred after the Bracero guestworker program ended in 1964. Under the rules of the program, Mexican Braceros were guaranteed a minimum wage of $1.40 an hour at a time when U.S. farmworkers were not covered by the minimum wage. Some farmworkers who picked table grapes were paid $1.40 an hour while working alongside Braceros in 1964, and then were offered $1.25 in 1965, prompting a strike. César Chávez became the leader of the strike and won a 40% wage increase in the first United Farm Workers table grape contract in 1966, raising grape workers’ wages to $1.75 an hour.

What would happen if there were a similar 40% wage increase today and the entire wage increase were passed on to consumers? The average hourly earnings of U.S. field and livestock workers were $14 an hour in 2019; a 40% increase would raise their wages to $19.60 an hour.

For a typical household or consumer unit, a 40% increase in farm labor costs translates into a 4% increase in the retail price of fresh fruits and vegetables (0.30 farm share of retail prices x 0.33 farm labor share of farm revenue = 10%; if farm labor costs rise 40%, retail spending rises 4%). If average farmworker earnings rose by 40%, and the increase were passed on entirely to consumers, average spending on fresh fruits and vegetables for a typical household would rise by $25 per year (4% of $615 = $24.60).”

We hope you will read the entire post from the Economic Policy Institute.

 

 

 

 

 

–> UPDATE, July 29, 2024: At least one public university apparently excludes illegal aliens from Dual Enrollment – HOORAY! Info here.

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High school students attend Georgia’s public colleges while paying no tuition – residency, citizenship verification not required.

• Pro-enforcement Georgians of all descriptions should be asking Gov. Kemp and lawmakers why we are paying for college classes for illegal aliens in an effort to “expand the workforce” when “the undocumented” are not generally eligible to be employed.

“While conservative Republicans wage an annual battle under the Gold Dome to stop other Republicans from changing state law so as to award in-state college tuition to Georgia’s “undocumented” foreign high school grads, it looks like we are paying for zero-cost college tuition as well as fees and books for the illegal aliens who haven’t yet graduated our tax-funded high schools.” So went part of a letter to the editor published in the Brunswick News last week from retired Border Patrol agent and INS agent, Robert Trent.

Trent, a St. Mary’s resident and active member of the Camden County Republican Party, was writing about Georgia’s Dual Enrollment program which, for taxpayers who are funding the program but who may not be aware, is best described by the Georgia Student Finance Commission: “Georgia’s Dual Enrollment Program provides students enrolled at an eligible public or private high school or home study program in Georgia the opportunity to earn high school and college credit at a participating eligible postsecondary institution in Georgia.”

Now capped at thirty semester hours, prior to changes pushed by Kemp in 2020 designed to lower costs, some students were reportedly taking 60 to 70 hours — which was making the program financially unsustainable.

About 45,000 Georgia students participated in dual enrollment last year according to reliable news reports.

• Related reading: Dual Enrollment as explained by the Georgia Dept. of Education 

This writer has been asking a variety of politicos since 2020 to point to a provision in the law or Georgia Student Finance Commission eligibility policy governing the DE program that excludes illegal aliens. A result was that the then-pending DE House bill saw a surprise, unscheduled vote.

Earlier this month I sent an open records request to the Georgia Student Finance Commission asking for a copy of any record or document that illustrated an exclusion for illegal aliens in the DE program or a verification system to check immigration status. I received a reply essentially telling me to see the laws and eligibility guidelines for myself.

I also sent a request for comment for this column to the media department at GSFC. There was no response.

We direct readers to the GSFC Dual Enrollment FAQ page, #7: “Is there a residency requirement to participate in Dual Enrollment? A: “There is no residence or citizenship requirement to participate in the Dual Enrollment program.” An online GSFC tutorial is careful to explain that a Social Security Number is not required for DE participation.

The DE program was the object of legislation in 2020 (HB 444) when it was renamed and in 2023 with SB 86 and a sixteen-member Joint Study Committee created in SR 175 – which was sponsored by twenty-two of the thirty-three Senate Republicans. At the outset of the latter endeavor, Co-Chair Rep. Matt Dubnik (R-Gainesville) explained that “We’re not trying to fix something that’s broken, We’re simply trying to take a good program and make it even better.” Georgia taxpayers may disagree when educated on the DE program. Sen. Matt Brass (R-Newnan) was lead sponsor of the above Dual Enrollment Senate legislation in 2023.

None of this legislation dealt with the fact that according to federal estimates only six states host more illegal aliens than Georgia. Or that the far-left Georgia Budget and Policy Institute says about 3000 illegals graduate from Georgia high schools each year (Update, June 1, 2024 – The Guardian says it’s 4000) . Using that number, it is logical to assume that the combined number of the now DE eligible 11^th and 12 grade students in the U.S. illegally is around 6000 – 8000 in any one school year. Ensuring that they are not draining the state education budget by benefitting from the tax-funded, discretionary DE free-college program seems like a no-brainer.

For more information on the current state of the Dual Enrollment program see the Oct. 13, 2023 James Magazine Online report.

Pro-enforcement Georgians of all descriptions should be asking Gov. Kemp and lawmakers why we are apparently paying for college classes for illegal aliens in an effort to “expand the workforce” when the “undocumented” are not generally eligible to be employed.

Democrat mayors and governors around the nation are openly wailing against the cost of caring for the literal millions of illegals being waived into the remains of the republic and dispersed into the nation’s interior by the Biden administration. Georgia is rewarding them. Including Kemp, Republican leaders in the Peach State need to explain the apparent absence of tools to insure only work-eligible high school students can access the Dual Enrollment benefits. It’s liable to be “an issue” in the 2024 elections.

A version of this essay ran on the subscription website James Magazine Online on Dec. 29, 2023, in the Glynn County (GA) The Islander newspaper on January 8, 2024 and in the (Carroll Co. GA) Star News in the Sept 14, 2024 edition.

D.A. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of ImmigrationPolitcsGA.com

X: @DAKDIS

 

 

UPDATE, May 6, 2024: As we feared, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones put SB 354 on the Senate floor after being educated from here on the fact that it dismantled the existing process that requires the verification of lawful presence for applicants for occupational licenses. According to Gov. Kemp’s website, SB 354 was a a “high priority” for Lt. Gov. Jones. Kemp signed SB 354 into law on May 2. Readers can catch up on SB 354 here.

 

 

“…dismantling existing law to reduce the level of illegality of illegal employment would be a very memorable, Democrat-like sort of maneuver.”

The “Red Tape Roll Back” initiative announced by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) last week is, among other, similar goals, aimed at shrinking state government to make it easier to access business and occupational licenses. This is not a new idea.

“A regulatory environment promoting competition, while encouraging the startup and expansion of new businesses, and taking the heavy hand of government out of the equation is a priority. The reforms the Senate will lead on this year will reduce costs and paperwork while minimizing uncertainty for those who want to start or grow a business in Georgia” says Jones. Again, this is not a new agenda.

The Lt. Governor and Senate members would do well to remember that many of what special interest lobbyists refer to as “outdated barriers to employment and occupational licensing” were put in place to fight the organized crime of illegal immigration. And that despite the silence on illegal immigration in Georgia from the governor’s office, the fact is that only six states suffer more “undocumented workers” than we do.

We hope the Lt. Governor hasn’t picked up the agenda pushed by organizers of the 2021 House Study Committee on ‘Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent.’ If so, in a state where illegal immigration-related laws are already largely treated as inconvenient “barriers” to profit, this should not be regarded as a wise, pro-enforcement move. As this writer wrote here at the time (“House committee on ‘barriers’ skips transparency, continues one-sided agenda”) “taking the heavy hand of government out of the equation” in the 2021 push was presented as “how reducing the numbers of occupations that require a license, eliminating “antiquated restrictions” and reducing training periods … to match regulations in other states…”

The hoped-for result? A less thorough licensing process – and more profit.

With an eye on lobbyist Darlene C. Lynch at the Business and Immigration for Georgia (BIG) Partnership, it is distressing to see that many of the same anti-enforcement organizers of the extremist 2021 effort are involved in shaping the agenda for the 2024 version of “modernizing state occupational licensing requirements” and “strengthening Georgia small businesses.” As she did in the 2021 House study committee, Lynch seemed to play a prominent role in the Secretary of State’s GA WORKS Licensing Commission and the Senate Study Committee on Occupational Licensing. Gold Dome experience says there is little doubt it is also true in the Lt. Governor’s office.

Lynch’s 2021 recommendations included removing the requirement that law enforcement officers be U.S. citizens. She also patiently explained that on “overhauling licensing schemes” …there’s a couple of different ways states are doing it. One is to remove unnecessary immigration related requirements that don’t really matter for that particular profession.” Legislators would do well to familiarize themselves with all of the James Online 2021 House Study Committee reports to fully grasp what may be coming.

The 2023 Senate Study Committee is chaired by Sen. Larry Walker (R- Perry) who did not allow public comment after testimony from a long list of pre-arranged business interest witnesses in the summer meetings. Indeed, this writers written request to provide some expert, pro-enforcement balance went unanswered (committee video archive).

Many thanks to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for the public comment period he provided and for the opportunity afforded me to urge that his commission recommend that regs now in place dealing with verification of ‘lawful presence’ for business license applicants be regarded as off limits to “modernizing” the business and professional license system.

While there is no good time to reduce vigilance on making Georgia as unattractive to illegal immigration as possible, even a seemingly minor reduction or elimination of related existing laws would result in making “dollar-first Georgia” even more attractive to the millions of potential future Democrat voter, illegal aliens the Biden administration has moved into the United States since 2021.

As a reluctant denizen of the Gold Dome for most of two decades, it is disturbingly obvious that not many legislators have even a basic level of knowledge of these hard-fought statutes. I offer just one example of recommended reading for all concerned: OCGA 50-36-1, Verification of Lawful presence.

We note that if it is part of the plan, dismantling existing law to reduce the level of illegality of illegal employment would be a very memorable, Democrat-like sort of maneuver.

D.A. King is founder of the Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of ImmigrationPolicticsGA.com .

A version of this essay was originally posted on the subscription news and opinion outlet, “James Magazine Online” on November 15, 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully execute the office of Governor of the State of Georgia and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution thereof and the Constitution of the United States.”

Oath of office made by Governor Brian Kemp last week – for the second time.

My January 2^nd column concerned state laws that are not enforced. We reminded readers that Gov. Brian Kemp took an oath to obey the constitution and quoted part of that document with “the Governor shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed and shall be the conservator of the peace throughout the state.”

 As an illustration of one law dealing with illegal immigration that is defiantly ignored, we explained that at his January 1, 2021, swearing in ceremony, Keybo Taylor, the sheriff of Gwinnett County here in Metro Atlanta, told the world “What we will not be doing is notifying ICE of anybody’s immigration status in the jail or any of our facilities.”

Then we explained a state law (OCGA 42-4-14) that requires all jailers to use reasonable effort to determine immigration status of foreign-born prisoners and report the illegal aliens to the feds. It’s a state law that Brian Kemp voted for as a state senator.

What I didn’t mention is that the above state law has no penalty in the text of the law.

That is correct. It’s a law with no penalty – don’t scramble to the law books to find one that does not have a penalty for normal, working Georgians.

This writer was involved in the drafting of the law in 2006 and a significant legislative improvement in 2011. I can tell you that none of us dreamed that “jailers” – mostly county sheriffs – would defy that statute. That was then. Now we know. It looks like the Gwinnett sheriff is not the only one ignoring this law.

You will probably read this here first: I can predict with a great deal of confidence that the current General Assembly session in Atlanta will see a bill that would create a stiff penalty for jailers like Gwinnett’s anti-enforcement, Democrat sheriff.

But wait, there’s more.

 As I wrote earlier in the month, Georgia can accurately be described as a “sanctuary state” for the “criminal illegals” Kemp promised to go after when he ran for office in 2018 and pledged to end already illegal sanctuary policies.

This brings up another state law that we need to share here. It’s OCGA 36-80-23 with a title that goes: “Prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies by local governmental entities; certification of compliance.” I am proud to have helped with advice on this legislation (*SB 20) when it passed the Republican-ruled state legislature in 2010.

The short version of this one is that it is illegal for counties, cities, and agencies, including law enforcement agencies, to put in place “sanctuary policies.”

“Sanctuary” in Georgia law 

According to state law, “sanctuary policy” means “any regulation, rule, policy, or practice adopted by a local governing body which prohibits or restricts local officials or employees from communicating or cooperating with federal officials or law enforcement officers with regard to reporting immigration status information while such local official or employee is acting within the scope of his or her official duties.” Pretty clear, we thought.

The enforcement mechanism goes like this: “Any local governing body that acts in violation of this Code section shall be subject to the withholding of state funding or state administered federal funding…” The “governing body” in Gwinnett is the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.

How would the various state agencies that administer tax dollars as grants to cities and counties know if those cities and counties were in violation of the law? They don’t know, but the funds are distributed anyway. So, there really is no penalty. This one isn’t enforced either.

More news:

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bill that injects a severe penalty into this toothless “no sanctuary policies in Georgia” law too.

Again: Georgia is a sanctuary state because illegal aliens can go into and out of many of our jails and never be reported to the feds. It’s a bit of California right here in the Peach State. If you want to see action from your state legislators on this, it is a good idea to let them hear from you.

Let’s close with a quote from Brian Kemp’s first TV campaign ad in 2018: “Donald Trump was right. We must secure the border and end sanctuary cities.”

You can see the video from that TV ad on our website, ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com.

• A version of the below column is published in the January 16, 2023, edition of The Islander newspaper in Glynn County, GA.
• *Correction on date of passage, SB 20

New monthly report from ICE with a sample of criminal aliens busted by 287(g) partnerships.

Report is informative reading, and demonstrates public safety value of immigration enforcement and cooperation between feds & locals.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 287(g) Program enhances the safety and security of communities by creating partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove aliens who are amenable to removal from the United States.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 added Section 287(g), to the Immigration and Nationality Act. This section of law authorizes the Director of ICE to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, that permit designated officers to perform limited immigration law enforcement functions. Agreements under section 287(g) require the local law enforcement officers to receive appropriate training and to function under the supervision of ICE officers.

Read the entire report here.

Hat tip, Jessica Vaughan, CIS.