A United South Carolina

Georgia has been among a handful of states to crack down on immigration in recent months, passing “copycat” legislation similar to Arizona’s sweeping law. Now Georgia’s farms are complaining that they will soon face labor shortages because immigrants are now reluctant to come to the state for fear of reprisal. According to a recent survey conducted by the state’s agricultural commissioner, farmers are expected to be short some 11,000 workers over the course of the season, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Georgia farmers say that immigrant workers who normally migrate from Florida for the seasonal work are staying away this year because of the new law. The measure, which takes effect in July, requires police to check the immigration status of suspects stopped for other offenses. And so far, not enough documented laborers have stepped up to take undocumented immigrants’ farm jobs, more than half of which pay an average of $8/hour and about a third of which pay from $9 to $11/hour. If the labor shortage continues, Georgia farmers will be “forced to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions, melons and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields,” says Jay Bookman, a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (more…)