Georgia is putting in place a new law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants, and many across the state are nervous. Businesses fear an economic boycott, the Latino community fears police officers will abuse their new powers, and farmers in South Georgia fear the law will hurt them dramatically.

Georgia is known for its peaches and Vidalia onions, the state vegetable. The specialty crop is produced in just a few counties in the rural southeast part of the state, where the soil is just right.

Aries Haygood with M&T Farms said  that the labor-intensive process that machines just can’t do because they’d bruise the delicate crop — a $140 million-a-year industry.

 

 “Our biggest fear is that because of the way the bill could be structured we won’t be able to find enough workers to do the work that we need done in a short amount of time,” he says

During 2011, Utah and Georgia were the only states to approve immigration laws while others turned down similar proposals.