"These people are illegal and the state can't afford it any more. Now that you have this, it's not business as usual anymore ... From everything I've heard, we got pretty much what we wanted."
-- Bill Hudson, board member of the Georgia Tea Party and a retired dentist from Marietta.
“It’s a great day for Georgia,” said Rep. Matt Ramsey, the Peachtree City Republican who authored the bill. “We think we have done our job that our constituents asked us to do to address the costs and the social consequences that have been visited upon our state by the federal government’s failure to secure our nation’s borders.”
By a 37 to 19 vote, Georgia's Senate amended and then adopted the bill. The House gave final approval to the legislation less than two hours before the session expired on a 112 to 59 vote. Now the bill goes to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature. The Republican governor campaigned last year on bringing an Arizona-style law to Georgia, but he has yet to take a position on HB 87.
Other opponents of the legislation, who worry it opens the door for racial profiling by law enforcement, have threatened to help organize economic boycotts targeting Georgia, if Deal signs the bill. Arizona has lost dozens of conventions since it mounted a similar crackdown last year.
Ouafae Azhari (foreground) shouts out as other demonstrators protest Georgia House Bill 87
outside the Capitol on the final day of the 2011 legislative session.