GA gov proposes ex-cons pick fruit, cotton instead of immigrants

Is this what they mean when they say they want their country back?? On the one hand, this would be a guaranteed job upon release, which is a good thing if it is a livable wage. On the other hand, it has the appearance of continued free labor. I think these jobs should be voluntary. Everyone is not going to want to work outside in the Georgia heat. I wonder what  the legislator was thinking when this bill was written.

The "Human Rights Summer" led by a coalition of activists and immigrants who are opposed to House Bill 87 (HB 87) is set to get hotter as the state government prepares to embark on the enforcement of this new law that criminalizes undocumented immigrants. And if the thousands of people who came out to protest HB 87 during the Independence Day weekend is any indication of what's to come, the state will need to prepare itself for a turbulent and polarizing battle.

Championed and signed into law by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, HB 87 calls for undocumented workers to be charged with felonies and given punishments of up to 15 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Even though a federal judge filed an injunction to outlaw a key piece of the law that would lead to the arrests of citizens driving in a car with undocumented immigrants, the damage was already done and many people have fled the state as a result of its passage. Governor Deal came up with a plan that would help solve the problem of labor shortages caused by the mass exodus. Why not have probationers fill the void left by workers and make them work in the fields picking produce and Georgia's main cash crop, cotton, for paltry wages?

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