Georgia recently passed House Bill 87, a bill aimed at driving out the state’s 425,000 illegal immigrants (similar to Arizona’s controversial measures last year).
As with most sweeping measures passed with only a modicum of thought and research, the effects have been disastrous (via Kyle Baxter):
After enacting House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia. It might be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Thanks to the resulting labor shortage, Georgia farmers have been forced to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions, melons and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields. It has also put state officials into something of a panic at the damage they’ve done to Georgia’s largest industry.