Georgian lawmakers – unless Governor Brian Kemp takes corrective action – has made it easier for illegal aliens to obtain professional licenses in several professions.
While the actual negative impact on the job market (in terms of numbers) is small, the symbolism is enormous.
Georgia currently has carefully engineered technology in place to ensure that those who are illegally in the United States do not obtain government professional licenses in a variety of regulated professions, such as B. professional counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists – language pathologists and audiologists.
A sneaky, indirect legislative maneuver risks destroying this structure by causing Georgia to enter into intergovernmental agreements to license these professions. By signing these treaties, the state would lose its current authority to refuse licenses to illegal aliens. According to immigration activist DA King, the bills were sold to lawmakers by highlighting some of their other features, such as making it easier for military spouses to pursue their professions in Georgia.
In fact, Georgian lawmakers have given these highly specialized professional associations the right to regulate who can work in these professions in the state of Georgia. Unfortunately, lawmakers’ eyes glazed over when the uninspiring question of who could practice speech pathology in the state was discussed.
Currently, three parallel bills (HB 34, HB 268 and HB 395) have been passed by an inattentive legislature and are on the governor’s desk for signature, veto or law without his signature. The governor, who supported previous laws banning illegal aliens from these professions, has not clarified his position on the current issue.
The Secretary of State, the office that manages these approval procedures, attracted a lot of attention earlier this year for other reasons.
There’s a bit of irony here. For decades, the middle and upper classes in this country have paid little attention to the massive flows of illegal aliens into the labor market, as all these unskilled workers will not personally affect their livelihoods, which is why we enforce poor immigration laws.
But now, at least in Georgia, some illegals can compete with the pros. Will the citizen professionals notice?
