Just posted this at the site "
Atlanta's Progressive News":
I'm sorry to point this out to you but this is racism and this is hate and it occurred in Georgia. The fact that those two issues are such a large part of that state should shock no one. As the old line goes - "Atlanta, not bad for Georgia" but it is still part of Georgia and racism comes with the territory.
One thing to note though - for all the racist, crazies running around in a place like Texas this legislation hasn't passed there. Why? Simple economics of course - they need the Mexican labor to build their barns, pave their roads and cook their food. What would TexMex be without the Mex? Georgia got sucker punched into this because the Republicans there are too stupid to realize what they have just done to their economy. Say good by to the chicken industry there - I'm gonna predict there will be more and more empty chicken coops in the Georgia country side. The undocumenteds left Arizona after they passed their law and its economy suffered. I expect Georgia will suffer the same fate. And that's just - racism, hate and ignorance should have a cost.
The thing that is great about this article is that it shows how Corporate interests are behind the law in Arizona and now in Georgia and how they will profit from its passage:
Meanwhile, supporters of the bill are celebrating, including the right-wing Republican base that supported the bill, as well as the for-profit prison corporations which stand to profit from the massive influx of suspected undocumented immigrants through the private prison system.
"Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), we know they have lobbyists here [at the legislature]," said Larry Pellegrini of Georgia Rural Urban Summit. CCA is one of the largest for-profit prison corporations in the U.S.
"They [CCA] will benefit by the legislation. They have a corporate stake in it around the country," Pellegrini told IPS.
Pellegrini also noted that the lobbying effort to pass anti- immigration laws in Georgia was part of a national effort.
One national lobbying group that was instrumental in bringing together business interests and lawmakers was the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
It was an ALEC task force, which included a representative from a private prison - along with lawmakers from Arizona and other states - who helped draft Arizona's immigration bill, which became a template for Georgia's law as well.
According to CCA reports obtained by National Public Radio, the corporation believes that immigration detention is its next big growth market.
CCA's earnings were up 15 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago.
CCA reported earnings of 40.3 million dollars, or 37 cents per share, on revenue of 428 million dollars in first quarter of 2011, according to the Nashville Business Journal newspaper. CCA's revenue for 2009 was 1.7 billion dollars.
The federal government pays over 60 dollars per detainee per day to house men at CCA's Stewart Detention Center, the largest immigration detention centre in the U.S., located in Lumpkin, Georgia.
CCA's top management in Tennessee contributed the largest block of out-of-state campaign contributions received by Arizona's Republican governor, Jan Brewer. Brewer employs two former CCA lobbyists as aides who assisted with signing Arizona's SB 1070 into law.
We will see if the same law gets anywhere in Texas. I doubt it but you never know. The same State that elected and has now re-elected Rick Perry can't be too bright.
