State Senate Republicans amended a bill Wednesday to allow residents to sue local governments they believe are not following immigration laws.
The plan, unveiled during a Senate Public Safety Committee hearing, comes amid national outrage following the killing last month of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley in Athens. A Venezuelan national who authorities say was in the United States illegally has been charged in the slaying.
According to the amended bill, if a superior court judge finds local governments to be in violation of “the prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies,” they would lose all state funding and all state-administered federal funding, excluding money for emergencies, disaster relief or emergency health care.
“This legislation creates an opportunity for citizens who feel that their communities are taking these actions, which are in violation of Georgia law when it’s related to sanctuary cities, to take legal action against their community in order to get their community back on track,” said state Sen. Randy Robertson, a Republican from Cataula.
Georgia law already restricts 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.
In some parts of the state, such as Athens-Clarke County, officials keep people with outstanding warrants in jail, but they don’t hold those, including immigrants in the country illegally, if there are no other charges against them.
Efforts to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” gained steam with Georgia Republicans after Riley’s body was found in a wooded area on the University of Georgia’s campus after she went for a run. House Republicans last week passed House Bill 1105, which would require sheriffs to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and hold people suspected of being in the country illegally.
The suspect charged in Riley’s death, Jose Antonio Ibarra, lives in Athens but is not a U.S. citizen. Authorities say he entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was previously arrested in New York.
The new language was inserted into House Bill 301, which addressed penalties for passing school buses. The amended version of Republican state Rep. Jason Ridley’s bill passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on Wednesday in a 4-1 vote.
If the bill passes the full Senate, it would go back to the House, where members would have to vote to accept the amended bill.
Senate Public Safety Committee Chair John Albers said a group of Republican senators has been “working nonstop on this important piece of legislation,” which meant many committee members and members of the public did not have a chance to review the new language until the hearing Wednesday morning.
“It’s very frustrating and disappointing that I’m just seeing this,” said state Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Pine Lake, who had questions about what kind of funding local governments would lose.
Robertson, who helped write the new language in HB 301, addressed her question, saying money for infrastructure improvements or “funding for museums” could be restricted.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said in a press release that “local officials and Washington Democrats failed to protect Laken Riley.”
“Their policies put the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of Americans,” Jones said.
Critics opposed to Republican efforts to pass new immigration legislation have said these bills would put more burden on local law enforcement to take on federal immigration responsibilities, instead of allowing them more time to handle other needs in their communities.
Local officials in Athens have pushed back on that narrative. This week in an interview on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Politically Georgia” podcast, Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz said there is “a disconnect” between the reaction to Riley’s death and the reality of how local governments and federal immigration officials interact.
”I would always ask those state and federal officials to come to Athens so we can demonstrate on the ground exactly what we do and exactly how we have yielded success for our community because we can demonstrate that,” Girtz said.
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