New requirements in store for smaller businesses under Georgia… | www.myajc.com

Starting Monday tens of thousands of Georgia businesses must start complying with a state law aimed at blocking illegal immigrants from getting jobs here.

Georgia’s law — also known as House Bill 87 — requires businesses with more than 10 employees but fewer than 100 to start using E-Verify, a free online federal work authorization program. State records show more than 27,000 Georgia businesses fall in that category.

Larger employers are already supposed to be using the system under the state law, which has been phased in since last year. Smaller companies — those with 10 or fewer workers — are exempt.

But that would change under the sweeping immigration bill the U.S. Senate passed Thursday. Senate Bill 744 would go further than Georgia’s law by requiring all businesses nationwide to use E-Verify within five years. The House Judiciary Committee passed legislation Wednesday that would require all employers to use E-Verify within two years.

Supporters say such a requirement would help drive more illegal immigrants out of this country. Critics worry it could stick small businesses with additional expenses and slap them with costly penalties.

Georgia’s Legislature adopted the state’s E-Verify requirements in 2011 as part of a comprehensive bill aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. Jobs are among the biggest magnets that attract illegal immigrants here.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimated 325,000 illegal immigrants held jobs in Georgia in 2010. Last fiscal year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Atlanta field office — which covers Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina — audited 105 businesses for illegal hiring practices, arrested scores of workers and slapped employers with nearly $900,000 in fines, the third-highest total for any field office in the nation.

Under Georgia’s E-Verify requirements, cities and counties are prohibited from issuing business licenses to companies that don’t comply. When they apply for their licenses, employers must submit affidavits confirming they are using the work authorization program.

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