Anti-immigration law targets Hispanic community, kills local business

Published: Examiner.com, June 12, 2011

HB 87 is the law in Georgia that authorizes police to demand proof of citizenship from individuals, and holds others culpable for employing illegal immigrants. The Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g) is a law affecting four counties of Georgia, which preceded HB 87. It allows the federal government through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, and for local and state officers to be authorized to enforce immigration laws.

Essentially, local and state officers who are affiliated with 287(g) can demand proof of citizenship from individuals, whom they have stopped at roadblocks, as well as for unrelated charges, such as running a traffic light. The 2010 arrest of undocumented college student, Jessica Colotl, in Cobb County, GA (a suburb of Atlanta) was a product of 287(g), and sparked intense national debate. According to the AJC, Colotl immigrated to the US from Mexico when she was 10 years old. She is currently living in Georgia based on an extension from her deportation.

287(g) is enforced in Cobb, Gwinnet, Whitfield, and Hall counties of Georgia. It was enacted during the Clinton administration, and is still enforced by the Obama administration.

Jeffrey Barger is a former owner and operator of a language center, where he taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to predominantly Hispanic clients in Norcross, GA, from 2000–2010. Barger started his business in downtown Norcross, located in Gwinnett County (another Atlanta suburb), with 15 Hispanic customers. His business grew to 25–30 customers, until laws changing after September 11, 2011 drove his business away. In 2001, according to Barger, his business dwindled from 25 to 14 students in two weeks.

Apparently, the laws changed to require citizenship documentation to get driver’s licenses and healthcare, when initially these could be obtained with a tourist visa. Barger was able to rebuild his business, but the granting of Gwinnett’s application for 287(g), as well as other political activities, drove his students away again.

Barger quoted a local businesswoman and wife of a housing developer as saying in a Norcross City Council meeting, “’We want to make sure we keep guys in vans with ladders on top out of downtown Norcross.’” On another event, Barger recalled a woman who worked at a Norcross beauty parlor informing him that she saw two Mexicans looking for his school. According to Barger, he asked her if she told them where it was, and she said, “No, I called the police.”

It is expensive and logistically challenging to enforce aspects of 287(g), which includes roadblocks and detaining suspects. Barger believes financial restraints limited the full measure of 287(g) from being enforced in Gwinnett. Nevertheless, roadblocks started affecting Barger’s business in 2009, and Hispanic people were too paranoid to move around and to come to his school. Barger said, “(The) roadblocks weren’t stopping people like me, they were stopping Hispanic people,” a sign to him that racial profiling in his county was a very real issue. He also said, “Roadblocks were put up in front Hispanic neighborhoods, a multitude of times.”

Barger used to teach students from various parts of Atlanta metro, but after the roadblocks, they would not drive into Gwinnett. From June 2010–November 2010, Barger was not able to maintain a single student in his language center, forcing him to shut down his business. When asked why he did not move to a county in the Atlanta area that had not enacted 287(g), Barger cited the expense of such a move, as well as his concern that HB 87 will cause the same issue in any county in Georgia where he would move.

Barger believes that Gwinnett was a once thriving business community, destroyed by anti-immigration law. He notes that businesses owned by Hispanic people are gone, as well as businesses that relied on Hispanic people as customers. In addition, the growth and development in Gwinnett was dependent on Hispanic craftsmen and artisans. It is easy to see how these issues could impede Gwinnett’s future progress. Its prosperous years included heavy involvement of the Hispanic community, who is now leaving the area in large numbers. According to Barger, “Paranoia comes around during the election cycle. Politicians target the Hispanic community.”

http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-atlanta/anti-immigration-law-targets-hispanic-community-kills-local-business