ATLANTA, Ga. (WGXA) – Immigration and sanctuary laws were in the spotlight under the golden dome.
Lawmakers say they are rewriting the 2009 law to ensure counties and cities are held accountable for sanctuary city designations. The legislation targets attempts by local governments to become sanctuary cities.
House Bill 301 would enforce a 2009 law banning sanctuaries and cities. It punishes them by withdrawing their state aid.
Senator Randy Robertson says they rewrote it to ensure counties don't violate the law.
“We have made some progress with this legislation,” Robertson said.
This came after college student Laken Riley was murdered on the UGA campus by accused murderer Jose Ibarra.
According to law enforcement, he entered the country illegally, was released on parole and later arrested in New York, a sanctuary city, before making his way to Georgia.
Although there are no sanctuary cities in Georgia, Riley's killing has caused an uproar, according to Robertson, so Georgians now have the right to sue their county or city.
“This legislation also provides citizens who feel that their communities are taking such actions that violate Georgia law in the context of sanctuary cities the opportunity to take legal action against their community to get their community back on the right track he told Robertson
After Laken Riley's death, the mayor of Athens was accused of writing rules that some citizens believed would make Athens a sanctuary city. Citizens argue that the designation contributed to her death and allowed the suspected killer and his brother to get there.
The bill also includes the possibility of removing local elected officials from office if they implement sanctuary rules.
Isabel Otero of the Southern Poverty Law Center says this law and several other immigration laws have the potential to confuse law enforcement and harm people.
“With a lot of different bills that have prisoner language, the problem with the way the prisoner language keeps coming up is that it's not entirely clear and we don't have clarity about what we mean “If we do that, we could end up with racial profiling and four violations of the amendment,” Otero said.
However, committee chairman John Albers dismissed their claims, saying they did not go back and forth.
“We are not here at the moment to enter into the Sanctuary City debate. It’s already been two minutes, so we have to ask the next person to come to us…” Albers said.
The bill passed by a vote of 4-1 and now heads to the Senate Rules Committee.
