Outline: SB 458
Mainly aimed at helping ACCG/GMA [1] and the SOS office with streamlining the administration of public benefits, this bill is housekeeping and clarification for important illegal immigration enforcement legislation from 2006, 2009 and last year’s HB 87. It also corrects a security oversight in existing code aimed at secure and verifiable ID and will better protect our benefits programs – including post secondary education – for eligible immigrants and citizens.
Section 1 SB 458
Clarifies that legislative intent of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act regarding post secondary education was to exclude alien applicants who are in violation of immigration laws by adding the term “post secondary education” to the official list of state public benefits and including that benefit in the requirement for federal eligibility verification using the federal SAVE system already in place. Like hundreds of other state and local agencies, The Regents/USG are already using SAVE as a matter of policy, this merely codifies use of that system into law.
The language also clarifies legislative intent from HB 2 in 2009 regarding the AG’s authority to add public benefits to the legislated list created by legislation. The current language inserted by ACCG in 2009 apparently puts the AG’s office in a legally gray area in which it could in theory eliminate the list of state public benefits entirely.
The bill restates the intent that USG be in compliance with federal law regarding instate tuition for illegal aliens. (8 USC1623)
With the purpose of eliminating a rush at application deadline time, and at the request of ACCG/GMA and the SOS office, this bill greatly expands the time period during which applicants for public benefits can apply and eliminates the requirement that U.S. citizens demonstrate that status more than once in the same administering agency. Put differently, after producing proof of U.S. citizenship one time, individuals will not again be required to do so again. ONLY for benefits administered in the same agency…you cannot prove citizenship in a Savannah welfare office and expect to not be required to do so again in a Cobb County business license office. Because non-citizens legal immigration status can change or expire, aliens will continue to be required to present affidavits and documents each time they access public benefits, in all offices. We are told this change will cut administration time by nearly 90%. All immigration documents presented must have expiration date beyond the expiration date of the license or benefit applied for.
It also clarifies the 2011 intent of HB 87 that copies of secure and verifiable documents can be submitted in person, by mail or electronically.
Section 2 To increase state and national security, the current language regarding acceptance of foreign passports as secure and verifiable ID is changed to add the need for those passports to include federal immigration documents (such as I-94 and I-94A…) showing date of legal entry and date of departure for non-permanent aliens. This is a badly needed common sense cleanup measure that puts Georgia more in line with other state’s agencies accepting foreign passports [2] for benefits eligibility.
It is also more like the way it is done in Mexico and other nations.
Currently, right here in Atlanta, foreign governments are issuing passports to citizens of their countries who have made it to Georgia after having escaped capture while crossing American borders in violation of our immigration laws. Illegal aliens are getting passports. [3]
Again, this is a desperately needed improvement for a variety of reasons, including state and national security.
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