On Jan. 29, The Times published an editorial entitled, "A bitter harvest." This editorial argued that the Georgia immigration bill sent immigrants, and revenues, fleeing Georgia farms and as a result guest worker reform was needed.

Unfortunately, errors in reasoning permeated this editorial and little evidence was presented to support this statement. Yes, this is an opinion piece but opinions need to be supported by facts. This is one of the most controversial issues facing our nation today. To print judgments without the support of reliable evidence is irresponsible.

Throughout the editorial, overgeneralizations and assumptions were used to prove the point that illegal immigrants are vital to the farming industry in Georgia. For example, the assertion that Georgians can't do back-breaking, manual labor is an overgeneralization, and one that could possibly offend American farmers.

On top of the overgeneralizations and assumptions, this editorial began to argue in a circle. Repeating the claim that the majority of voters and lawmakers don't seem to grasp what the law has wrought does nothing but alienate readers. Also, the false analogy comparing Washington to the South Georgia sun, and common sense to watermelons was witty, but it was also unreasonable.

Instead of poking fun of legislators, the editorial could have explored other aspects of the immigration debate including human rights, border defense and illegal labor rates across the country.

This editorial oversimplified an argument that affects millions of individuals per day. This piece distorted the big picture of national immigration by focusing only on the unproven effects of immigration reform in one state. It is time that we as Georgians and Americans have a debate based on evidence not emotion. Editorials such as the one published on Jan. 29 do little to further the conversation.

Jenny McGahee
Martinez