Ga. lawmakers push crackdown on immigrant sanctuary cities
ATLANTA, Ga. - Some Georgia senators want to punish cities and counties that they say are illegally harboring immigrants who are in the country without permission.
The lawmakers want to cut off most state aid to those local governments and remove elected officials from office.
The Senate Public Safety Committee voted 4-1 on Wednesday to rewrite House Bill 301, with ers saying the move is needed to enforce a 2009 state law that outlaws so-called sanctuary cities and counties.
It’s the latest measure proposed by Republicans after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of Georgia campus.
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The Senate committee completely rewrote a bill that previously regulated penalties from speeding tickets issued by automated cameras. State Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, complained that she had no time to read the new language before the meeting, calling it “frustrating and disappointing.”
The new bill would let any Georgia resident sue, asking a judge to declare a city or county was violating the 2009 law. If a judge agrees, the state would cut off state aid, as well as federal aid it controls, except for a short list of emergency and health services. For example, a county or city would get no state money for building and maintaining roads.
Judges could restore funding if a local government repeals the offending policy. A judge would then be required to issue a permanent order barring the government from ever readopting any sanctuary policy.
The bill also provides for removal of local elected officials if cities or counties adopt sanctuary policy. The bill lets any Georgia resident complain to the Board of Community Affairs. The board would conduct a hearing on whether an official is breaking state law and recommend to the governor whether to suspend the official. The governor could then remove the official and appoint a replacement.
Officials can petition to be reinstated, but that would happen only if they can show that their service “is more likely than not to improve the ability” of the government to comply with the anti-sanctuary law.
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Republican Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula told the committee that the measure would ensure sheriff’s offices comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement so they don’t evade the 2009 law.
“What we’ve done in this legislation is we’ve added some teeth, because there were none in the past,” Robertson said.
Critics of the measure say it’s a further attempt by Republican lawmakers to impose their will on cities and counties, and would let activists tie up cities and counties with court cases and istrative proceedings.
“We have built-in ability measures for when communities do not like what their local government or local sheriffs are doing, and those are elections. We should not be using the legislature to dictate to local communities,” said Isabel Otero, Georgia policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Also at the Ga. Capitol ...
- The sanctuary bill is the second one seeking a harder stance on immigration to advance this year. Last week the Georgia House voted 97-74 for House Bill 1105, which seeks to require local law enforcement to help identify immigrants in the country illegally and detain them for possible deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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