Republican state senators passed a pair of bills Thursday that aim to force local government officials, including sheriffs, to comply with federal immigration laws and punish those who don’t.
House Bill 301, which passed 33-18, would allow residents to sue local governments they believe are not following immigration laws and withhold state and state-administered federal funding for those cities and counties found in violation.
Georgia law already forbids cities and counties from adopting a “sanctuary policy,” where local officials give safe harbor to people who are living in the country without legal permission. Under HB 301, if a superior court judge finds a local government has circumvented that requirement, that government could lose all state and state-administered federal funding — with the exception of money for emergencies, disaster relief or emergency health care.
“It’s really simple,” said Sen. Randy Robertson, a Republican from Cataula. “Follow the law. ... If you go out there and want to be a sanctuary city that violates Georgia law, you’re going to be held accountable.”
GOP lawmakers have sought to crack down on illegal immigration for years, but efforts ramped up after the killing last month of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley in Athens. A man from Venezuela who authorities say was in the United States without authorization has been charged in the slaying.
Another bill, House Bill 1105, would prohibit cities and counties from enacting immigration “sanctuary” policies allowing local officials to give safe harbor to people living in the country without legal permission.
Under HB 1105, when someone is charged with a crime and sent to jail, the arresting officer would send their fingerprints to the Georgia Crime Information Center and provide the suspect’s name and date of birth to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
If information comes back that the suspect is in the country without permission, the officer is supposed to send that information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Then, if ICE issues a detainer, the sheriff would be required to hold that person in custody so federal agents can deport them.
Supporters of the bill, which passed 34-18, believe some sheriffs are not cooperating with federal immigration officials. However, nearly a dozen sheriffs interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said they do seek citizenship information about suspects and honor requests to hold them.
Terry Norris, the executive director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, said 120 sheriffs across the state who responded to a survey said they were already notifying ICE.
Although sheriffs raised concern about some of the additional requirements HB 1105 would place upon them, sheriffs in Bulloch, Crawford, Effingham, Forsyth and Newton counties wrote Wednesday in a letter to lawmakers that they support the legislation.
“While the bill’s quarterly jail data reporting mandates are highly problematic and will prove costly and hard to accomplish for sheriffs’ offices, we feel the requirement may help provide a better understanding of our state’s criminal alien population reality,” the letter states.
Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, said the data will provide information to show how often ICE fails to honor its own detainers.
“We’re here to punish criminals,” he said. “That’s what we do.”
However, Senate Democrats criticized the measures as overreach that will create more lawsuits for local governments to manage.
“All this bill does is threaten complete financial extinction of local governments — state and federal funding — and threaten the removal of every elected official who serves the local government if they don’t follow existing law,” said Sen. Josh McLaurin of Sandy Springs.
While he said Riley’s killing was a horrible tragedy, HB 301 is “making bad law in response to that tragedy.”
Advocates for immigrants also say these measures unfairly target the Latino community.
Albers disputed that claim.
“To say that we are attacking immigrants is so false, it’s actually sensational,” he said.
Both measures were amended in the Senate and must go back to the House for approval.
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