The cost of local immigration enforcement,as seen from the home of the Braves

Perhaps the best example I can find these days of how absurd the idea of giving local law enforcement the authority to enforce federal immigration law is found in a couple of paragraphs from a story published by the Gainesville Times newspaper in Georgia.

That publication covered a Georgia state Legislative hearing held Tuesday in which people debated whether or not the Peach State should aspire to be more like the Grand Canyon State was in 2010 when it comes to this issue.

SPEAKING IS TOM Hensley, president of Fieldale Farms Corp., which produces poultry products for consumption. He says the overtones of such ethnically-motivated legislation are already impacting his business.

As he put it:

“We were 67 percent Hispanic in 2004. Our turnover was 25 percent. Our workers (compensation) cost was $50,000 a month. Our health care cost for the whole year was $8 million. It was about that time that the federal, state and local governments let it be known that these folks are not welcome.

“Fast forward to 2010, we’re about 33 percent Hispanic now. Our turnover is 75 percent. Workers comp costs are $150,000 a month. Our health care last year was $20 million. Those are staggering numbers, but that’s the economic reality.”

WHEN ONE CONSIDERS all the businesses being impacted, the financial devastation becomes all too clear.

It seems the only people who really want these changes are the ones who are all too eager to put ideology ahead of sensible public policy. The people whose prejudices are so intense that they’d rather do harm to a segment of our economy, rather than concede these individuals are making a worthy contribution to our society, and perhaps there is no legitimate reason the bulk of those now considered “illegal” ought to be.

Just a thought for the day.

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