“State legislators in Georgia are not accustomed to fielding questions on illegal immigration.”
First-term Republican state Senator Mike Hodges (R – Brunswick) sat for an interview with “the most listened to man in South Georgia” radio host Scott Ryfun last week. I found the senator’s remarks on illegal immigration in Georgia and what he hears from legislative colleagues on the topic quite interesting – but different than my own experience.
The 2024 General Assembly was this writer’s nineteenth year fighting the pro-enforcement immigration battle under the Gold Dome. I can report that except for a very few courageous lawmakers, illegal immigration is not “an issue” for most of them. That goes double in the state Senate. I blame Republican voters.
For readers who missed the Ryfun interview, I paste a partial transcript of the segment in which Sen. Hodges was asked about illegal immigration.
Scott Ryfun to Sen. Hodges:
“…as far as your term in office so far, were you surprised at how big an issue in the last year illegal immigration has become?
Sen Mike Hodges
Yes and no. … I’m, I mean, well, I’ve always, I mean, you know, we’ve only, we’ve got finite resources in the State of Georgia, we got finite resources in the country and, you know, we’ve gotta take care of our folks. Um, what I’ve been surprised at is the vehemence and the, the vehemence of some folks and the, um, the charges, if you will, of, bad behavior by a lotta people in the business community, you know, I’m there every day. Uh, I’m in the legislature every day. I’m part of discussions of bills and I never hear anybody say, “Hey, let’s do this this way and we can get free labor.” I mean, I don’t, I don’t hear that. I hear more people saying, “You know” we need to do something. We need to do something to make illegal aliens less desirable, … to make Georgia less desirable for illegal aliens.”
I hear a lot more of that than I do, the other side of the argument. So, I think there’s, I think that there is, an effort, you know, to try to, um, to try to deal with that. I know that, that it is a single-issue for a number of people.” (End of my outtake).
Thank you, Scott Ryfun.
State legislators in Georgia are not accustomed to fielding questions on illegal immigration. I blame Republican voters.
Here I need to write that illegal employment is the main driver of illegal immigration. And that I have personally watched lobbyists for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce first try to stop and then water down state legislation to create a requirement that private employers use the federal no-cost E-Verify system to deter illegal employment. They were partially successful.
- Bonus reading: The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and DEI
And that I have personally seen an arrogant lobbyist working for and at the direction of the Georgia agriculture industry explain to a House committee that the H2A vias was bad for business. Agriculture is the only industry that has its own visa – the H2A visa. With it growers can legally bring in an unlimited number of temporary foreign farm workers. But the program does require that the employer provide the visa holder with housing, transportation, meals, and certain designated wages.
Use of legal H2A labor is too costly, the Big Ag mouthpiece explained. It’s cheaper to use black market labor. “The H2A visa is like a Cadillac – and not everyone can afford a Cadillac…” he said. Ask me for a link to the committee video.
With Sen. Hodges description of what he hears in the legislature in mind, here are just two of the anti-enforcement bills passed in the GOP-run Georgia state Senate in the 2023-2024 General Assembly:
SB 112 -(“The Workforce EXCELeration Act”) – Would provide taxpayer-funded Adult Education for Georgia residents aged twenty-one and over to the state technical college system for classes that result in a high school diploma. The bill contained language that allowed the TCSG and the State Board of Education to “waive or provide variances to state laws, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures…” that may be necessary to meet the measure’s goals. Ditto for federal laws that get in the way.
There was no exclusion for illegal aliens.
Only one state senator (Sen. Colton Moore) voted “no.” The bill was overhauled and repaired in the House.
SB 354 – Removes the requirement for occupational licensing for some low-skilled workers in Georgia – and along with it the verification of lawful presence immigration check.
It passed the state Senate in January with zero “no” GOP votes – and only two in the House In March. Gov. Kemp should veto this legislation.
I blame Republican voters.
- A version of this column was published in the April 22, 2024 edition of the Glynn Co. (GA) newspaper, The Islander.
