Saturday, February 26, 2011

[HumanRightsAtlanta] Monday! HB 87 "Show Me Your Papers" bill hearing

All,

There will be a (last) hearing of HB 87 Monday in Rm. 132 of the Capitol, 9:30 till noon; per what the Chairman had indicated before, this will be the last hearing at which a vote will be taken and most likely no testimony will be allowed; please note that we still don't have the finalized version of HB 87; it is expected to be handed out at the hearing.

Please try to come if you can; we'll be there with the "What Happens in Arizona, STOPS in Arizona" stickers. Also, if you haven't already written the House Judy Non-Civil Committee members, please do so this weekend and Monday a.m.; and also call Monday a.m.

Watch for an alert with the members' contact info. and talking points for your reference tomorrow.

Together, we can KILL this bill!!!

Dear all,

The time to act is now!

House Bill 87 “show me your papers” legislation will be up for a vote at the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, this coming Monday, 9:30 a.m., Rm. 132 of the Capitol.

Below, you can find a summary of what the bill would do; suggested talking points; as well as contact info. for members of the House Judiciary Non-Civil committee. Please write to them NOW! And call first thing Monday a.m.

Thank you for all you do to ensure the defeat of this racial profiling bill.

Hope to see you Monday!

Azadeh

HB 87 would, among other things:
·         require the police to investigate individuals’ immigration status in the course of an offense, including traffic stops, where there is “reasonable suspicion” to believe that they may be undocumented;
·         give police the power to make warrantless arrests;
·         create criminal penalties for any individual that while in violation of another criminal offense encourages an undocumented person to come to Georgia or transports or harbors them once they arrive;
·         provide additional incentives for localities to enter into 287(g) or “Secure Communities”;
·         allow any “legal resident” to bring a lawsuit against any Georgia official or agency to force them to enforce provisions of the bill; and,
·         require private employers to use the flawed E-Verify database and establishes civil sanctions in case of non-compliance.

 Below, are suggested talking points for when you call/write to the reps:
·         HB 87 is unconstitutional and violates core American values of fairness and equality.
·         HB 87 significantly resembles Arizona’s notorious SB 1070, and if passed, will subject the state to exorbitant litigation costs.
·         HB 87 orders law enforcement officers throughout Georgia to use racial profiling as a tool.  This would destroy trust and divert law enforcement resources away from community policing.
·         HB 87 will hurt state and local economies and lead to a tremendous loss in tourism revenues.  In talking about costs, you can make use of these resources:
o   Immigration Policy Center fact sheet on economic contributions of immigrants to GA: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/new-americans-peach-state
o   Immigration Policy Center checklist for estimating the cost of Arizona-type legislation: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/checklist-estimating-costs-sb-1070-style-legislation
o   Center for American Progress report on cost of cancelled conferences and conventions in Arizona: http://www.americanprogress.org/pressroom/releases/2010/11/cost_sb1070_release.html

·         E-Verify databases are loaded with errors.  Businesses that use e-Verify report that 10 -15% of eligible workers are deemed ineligible by e-Verify, and the errors disproportionately affect lawful residents and naturalized citizens.

 Georgia House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee

 

Name
District
Office
Email Address
Phone Number

Rich Golick (Chairman)
R-34
218 Capitol
rich.golick@house.ga.gov
404.656.5943

Mark Hatfield (Vice-Chairman)
R-177
404 CLOB
mhatfield@wayxcable.com
404.656.0109
912.283.3820

Charlice Byrd (Secretary)
R-20
608 CLOB
charlice.byrd@house.ga.gov
404.656.0298
404.557.2218

Roberta Abdul-Salaam
D-74
612 CLOB
roberta.abdul-salaam@house.ga.gov
404.656.0325
678.489.2047

Stacey Abrams
D-84
408 CLOB
staceyabrams@gmail.com
404.656.5058
404.378.9434

Alex Atwood
R-179
401 CLOB
alex.atwood@house.ga.gov
404.656.0152
912.265.5515

Stephanie Stuckey Benfield
D-85
512 CLOB
stuckey@mindspring.com
404.656.7859
404.964.7025

Doug Collins
R-27
109 Capitol
doug.collins@house.ga.gov
404.651.7737
770.983.2223

Christian Coomer
R-14
404 CLOB
christian.coomer@house.ga.gov
404.656.0109
770.383.9171

Sharon Cooper
R-41
436 Capitol
sharon.cooper@house.ga.gov
404.656.5069
770.956.8357

Bobby Franklin
R-43
401 CLOB
bobby.franklin@house.ga.gov
404.656.0152

Yasmin Neal
D-75
604 CLOB
yasmin.neal@house.ga.gov
404.656.0265
678.656.6589

B.J. Pak
R-102
601 CLOB
bj.pak@house.ga.gov
404.656.0254

Matt Ramsey
R-72
401 Capitol
matt.ramsey@house.ga.gov
404.656.7146

Nikki Randall
D-138
404 CLOB
nikki.randall@house.ga.gov
404.656.0109

Ed Setzler
R-35
501 CLOB
ed.setzler@house.ga.gov
404.656.0177
404.630.8452


Azadeh N. Shahshahani
National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director
American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia
1900 The Exchange SE, Suite 425
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-303-8111

 

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