Chattanooga (Tennessee) Times Free Press

“Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, said the general effects of Georgia’s tougher immigration laws have been creating a lot of confusion and fear.”

“The word-of-mouth is spreading that Georgia is an unwelcoming place, and that’s not necessarily something we want to portray our state as,” he said.

But state Sen. John Douglas, R-Social Circle, said the new laws he helped sponsor are having their desired effect.

Immigration in reverse

José Gómez is seeing fewer people in his gym in Dalton, Ga. Not because folks aren’t as interested in staying healthy, he says, but because they’re interested in staying out of jail. — New immigration laws in Georgia — among the toughest in the nation — are scaring families with illegal [aliens] out of the state, he says.

HERE