Senator Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) this month filed a bill that would, if enacted into law, mandate that Georgia’s law enforcement officers check people’s citizenship status as they make arrests.
According to the language of the bill, SB 448, available on the Georgia General Assembly’s website, law enforcement officers could perform this task with or without a warrant.
“Each peace officer in this state who lawfully arrests or detains an individual with or without a warrant or as the result of a traffic stop shall check such individual’s citizenship status to determine if such individual is lawfully present in this country,” according to Miller’s bill.
This is one of many recent examples of Georgia officials trying to address the issue of illegal immigration.
State Representative Wes Cantrell (R-Woodstock) this month denied that a new bill he’s sponsoring would grant in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants.
This, even though the website Immigration Politics Georgia has warned about the bill, HB 932.
The Georgia Senate rejected a measure last month that could have changed the state constitution to clarify only U.S. citizens can vote in the state.
Senate Resolution 363 would place a constitutional amendment on an election ballot for voter approval. The resolution, however, did not receive the required approval of two-thirds of the Senate.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Georgia experienced isolated incidents of non-citizen voters registering in previous elections, which his office referred to the attorney general for prosecution.
Raffensperger said last summer that he wants members of the Georgia General Assembly to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to clarify that the state constitution permits only American citizens to vote.
Georgia election officials sent nearly 200,000 notifications to voter files that have registered no contact with the state election system for at least five calendar years, Raffensperger said at the time.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Marietta, Georgia Police Department” by Marietta, Georgia Police Department.
