Matthew Pearson/WABE
Georgia Republican lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require local and state police to identify, arrest and detain undocumented immigrants – responsibilities normally reserved for federal immigration enforcement.
The proposal gained momentum after a Venezuelan migrant was arrested in the killing of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Athens, Georgia. Immigrant rights advocates in the state say the bill demonizes immigrants, pointing to research that shows undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than others.
But Republican state Rep. Jesse Petrea, the bill’s sponsor, said it will bolster public safety.
“We have the greatest border crisis in our nation’s history,” he said. “In Georgia, the people of this state, the people we represent, are expecting us to do something. And I think this is a good way to do just that.”
The proposal is similar to Senate Bill 4, the Texas measure that empowers state and local police to arrest people who illegally cross the southern border and allows local judges to deport migrants out of the country. The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected an emergency request by the Biden administration to block the Texas law.
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