Jane Osborn notes:

More on the lawsuit filed to overturn HB87 that has scared the farmworkers out of state.

In the the press release by GALEO 16 June 2011:

GALEO (Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials), the leading Latino organization focused on civic engagement and leadership development of the Latino community in Georgia, has submitted an Amicus Brief to ask the federal court to stop implementation of Georgia’s HB87 law. The brief was filed by the law firm of Rohan Law, P.C. GALEO filed the brief in an effort to protect constitutional and civil rights of Georgians.

“This law will adversely impact our state by creating a state-law system for the regulation of immigration and immigration enforcement. This new scheme by the state is not only unconstitutional but will also encourage egregious violations of rights of Georgia’s residents and visitors,” said Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of GALEO.

GALEO believes that HB87 will disproportionately harm certain communities of color and would also encourage racial profiling. Enforcement of HB87 cannot be accomplished in a race-neutral fashion. Additionally, there are serious concerns of local law enforcement officials being unequipped to enforce HB87.

HB87 also threatens public safety in Georgia. By placing law enforcement officials in the position to enforce a broken immigration policy, HB87 will instill fear and mistrust in Georgia’s communities of color and drastically chill the reporting of crime and cooperation in criminal investigations by minorities. This erosion of trust would undermine public safety efforts for all Georgians.

Of course, the Georgia plan is to turn it into private safety anyway, by privatizing prisons for private profit of a few at taxpayer expense.

-jsq