Georgia Governor Nathan Deal is coming to terms with a new realization this morning : all those illegal immigrants he’s trying to have out of his home state over the next few weeks do jobs that no legal resident alien or American citizen wants to do. So now, rather than to admit that his immigration reform might not have been the best move, Deal telling farm owners just to hire ex-cons to replace the law-breaking migrant workers he’s kicking out. Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement Tuesday that he had asked the state’s agriculture and corrections commissioners to connect unemployed probationers with farm jobs. “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,” he said. Deal outlined results from a recent survey data indicating there were more than 11,000 positions currently available on Georgia farms. Growers in Georgia have expressed concerns about labor shortages since Deal signed a law last month aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. The law, known as HB 87, allows police to ask about immigration status when questioning suspects in certain criminal investigations and asserts that workers convicted of using fake identification to get jobs could be sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $250,000. The law goes into effect July 1, but already some growers say they’ve noticed an impact. Grower Roscoe Hutcheson said no one showed up Tuesday to pick blackberries at his farm in Baxley, Georgia — a labor shortage he blamed on HB 87. Late last month, growers reported they were getting only 30% to 50% of the workers they needed, according to the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, which represents mostly medium- and large-size operations in the state’s $1.1 billion fruit and vegetable business. Labor needs have diminished since then as the end of the harvest season approaches, but concerns from growers have not, said Charles Hall, the association’s executive director. “The information we’re getting form harvesters is they (workers) don’t want to come to Georgia because they’re afraid of the enforcement of this law,” he said. Deal said about 25% of the 8,000 probationers in southwest Georgia — where many of the state’s farms are located — are unemployed. In other words, this solution is no solution at all. Good job, McFly.
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Way To Go: Georgia Governor Realizes His New Immigration Bill Cost The State 11K Farm Workers, Wants To Replace Them With Convicts
