GOP lawmakers quickly advanced legislation to allow law enforcement officials to arrest and detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, and mandate that local officials in Athens and other communities coordinate with federal immigration authorities.

But the politicization of the session started even before it began in January, when GOP lawmakers who were summoned to the Capitol late last year to redraw district maps squeezed Democrats by forcing votes on resolutions backing Israel in its war with Hamas and Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center.

It has only accelerated as November nears as Republicans try to defend vulnerable legislative seats and flip Georgia back into the red column four years after Biden narrowly won the state.

Over the past two months, lawmakers have mixed fresh debates over MAGA-inspired license plates and efforts to punish “rogue” prosecutors with years-old culture war feuds that predate even some of the most grizzled legislative veterans.

In the run-up to a key legislative internal deadline, Republicans revived measures to eliminate automatic voter registration, control what educators can teach about gender and sex, and adopt “religious liberty” legislation that has spurred debate for decades.

A range of gun-related measures aimed at igniting the conservative base ahead of November’s election are pending, and Gov. Brian Kemp could soon sign into law a crackdown on crime that requires cash bail for more offenses.

That’s not to suggest the state Capitol is overwhelmed with polarizing politics. The internal Crossover Day deadline was full of moments of levity, with legislators from both parties jesting with each other even as they considered serious legislation.

But they also can’t escape the looming election — qualifying for public office begins Monday — and the weight of their political decisions.

It’s one reason why House leaders brought up a proposed constitutional amendment late Thursday to ban noncitizens from voting even though they knew it would fail to capture enough of the two-thirds support needed from Democrats, who said the state constitution already bans it. State law already prohibits noncitizens from voting.

And while lawmakers passed consensus-driven legislation to expand mental health care and combat antisemitism, other efforts with broad public support such as expanding Medicaid and protecting in vitro fertilization appear doomed this year.

“The time we’re spending on debating these red-meat measures could actually be spent debating things that are important, like protecting and investing in the public education system or expanding Medicaid,” said Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves of Atlanta.

“Instead of election-year fodder,” he said, “we should be focusing on issues that matter to Georgians.”

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Republicans counter that’s exactly what they’re doing, particularly by enacting new efforts to crack down on illegal immigration after Riley’s killing.

“These are top issues on voters’ minds. This is what our constituents care about,” said state Rep. Scott Hilton, a Republican who represents a competitive Gwinnett County-based district. “At the end of the day, what Democrats see as political posturing, residents in my community see as a top priority.”

‘Failures’

A few weeks ago, Kemp said he felt there was no “pressing need” for state-level immigration measures. Instead, he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Biden and Congress should take aggressive action to control migration.

But Riley’s death has changed the tone and tenor of the last weeks of the legislative session, igniting a political firestorm that spread beyond Georgia to factor into the 2024 race for president.

Authorities say the 22-year-old was bludgeoned to death while she was out for a morning run. Her body was found near a popular running trail on the edge of UGA’s sprawling campus.

Soon after Ibarra was charged in her death, Republicans raced to embrace new measures to toughen immigration laws as Kemp and other Republicans linked the slaying with Biden’s immigration policies.

The Georgia House voted along mostly party lines Thursday to pass legislation that would give police new powers to arrest anyone who is suspected of being in the country illegally and crack down on local governments perceived to have “sanctuary” policies.

It’s the first in what’s expected to be a wave of legislation that was stalled before Riley’s death. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said he’ll push a measure to punish elected officials who declare their communities “safe harbors for illegal immigrants.”

And other Senate GOP leaders said they’ll seek to block unauthorized immigrants convicted of crimes from receiving parole — and requiring sheriffs to take steps to deport them.

“Fixing policy in the face of unspeakable tragedy is not politics,” said Republican state Rep. Houston Gaines, who represents Athens in the Legislature. “It’s doing the right thing to ensure that something like this never occurs again.”

Democrats were quick to cite a series of studies that show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than white and Black U.S. born citizens, and others that indicate that higher rates of illegal immigration aren’t linked to more crime.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

State Rep. Pedro Marin, Georgia’s longest-serving Latino legislator, called the legislation an “attempt to politicize fear and hatred” that will only spur more racial profiling and discrimination against immigrants.

“This bill will force human beings to live in fear and burden local governments and law enforcement officers by expanding their responsibilities,” the Gwinnett Democrat said.

Even some senior Republicans didn’t contest that point. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch said that lawmakers must ask local authorities to “step up because of the failures of the federal government to do their job.”

The intense focus underscores how immigration has fast become one of the nation’s most potent political issues amid finger-pointing in Washington over who is to blame for record numbers of illegal crossings.

A Gallup poll released this week showed immigration has soared past other issues as the most important problem facing the U.S., and a Morning Consult survey of registered Georgia voters showed Republicans with a decided political edge on the issue.

“I take this very personally,” said Republican state Rep. Rey Martinez, a former Loganville mayor who was born in Puerto Rican to parents who migrated legally from Cuba. ”Do you know who is against illegal immigration? The Hispanic community. My people. Like my parents. They waited in line. They did it the right way. They don’t like someone all the sudden skipping the line. How would you like it?”

Democrats say the election-year maneuvering to mobilize voters over immigration and other issues risks backfiring. State Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Gwinnett County, said Republicans are deflecting from “real solutions to serious problems” such as health care and education.

State Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, said “anti-immigrant xenophobic, fear-mongering rhetoric will be part of the GOP legislative and electoral strategy for the rest of the year.”

“We may not be able to stop all of it,” Au said. “But we’re not going to make it easy for them.”