A bill to strengthen immigration enforcement and accountability passed the Georgia Senate by a vote of 33-18 last Thursday. HB 301 would remove funding from sanctuary cities refusing to follow immigration laws within the state. The bill awaits transfer to the House for further consideration.
The measure aims to hold officials accountable and allow local “governing bodies” to lose eligibility for “certain state and federal funds” when “the prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies” is violated.
Presenting the bill during the Senate floor session, State Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) said, “We’re elected officials. We all raise our right hands, and we take oaths. We take oaths to the U.S. Constitution. We take oaths to the Georgia Constitution. And guess what…you may be a mayor, you may be a city counselor, you may be a county commissioner, but you are not above Georgia law. What this bill does [is] if you go out there and you want to be a sanctuary city that violates Georgia law, then you’re going to be held accountable for that, and we’re going to take funding away from you….”
Delivering the minority report, State Senator Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta) criticized the bill.
“If we really wanted to solve the immigration crisis, we would be stopping the exploitation of those who are undocumented in this state, and every single one of us is complicit, on one hand calling this immigration crisis an invasion as if these people are coming here unwanted when the reality is many of the industries that every single one of you advocate on behalf of have exploited this community…yet here we are exploiting them for political purposes. Shame on every single one of us,” he said.
Returning to the well of the Senate floor, Robertson responded, “…if there’s going to be any entity in this state that is comprised of elected officials that choose to violate Georgia law and you accept it, then shame on you.”
Following HB 301’s passage in the Senate, the Georgia Senate GOP reiterated its position in an X (formerly Twitter) post, “Let us be clear, sanctuary cities will not be tolerated in Georgia. Under HB 301, which we passed today, any local government that ignores the law and decides to be a sanctuary city will be stripped of state funding.”
In response to the bill’s passage, the nonprofit organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta opposed the measure in a statement on X, claiming that HB 301 would “increase racial discrimination and fear among immigrant communities” and called on Governor Brian Kemp to veto legislation that “violates the rights of individuals based on their race, ethnicity or national origin.”
However, in light of the murder of University of Georgia student Laken Riley in Athens by an illegal immigrant, there have been moves by the legislature for stricter enforcement of immigration laws and a backlash against cities like Athens, often described as a sanctuary city.
In a 2019 meeting, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz supported a resolution stating that it was important that people “including those without documentation, feel welcome and comfortable interacting with local law enforcement…,” and it was necessary to “defend the human rights of all people, including citizens, noncitizens, and those without documentation and recognize that we cannot be witness to the violation of constitutional rights given to all people….”
Prior to HB 301’s passage in the Senate, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones issued a press release on March 6 supporting more accountability for immigration policy enforcement.
“Athens-Clarke County local officials failed to protect the greatest asset that their county has: the students at the University of Georgia,” the press release said.
Also, the press release added that local officials “favored a radical agenda that puts the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of the citizens of Athens-Clarke County.”
Jones also said, “As part of our ongoing commitment to protect Georgians, we are taking a stand against those who attempt to implement sanctuary policies that violate the law and harbor criminals.”
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Debra McClure is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Debra on X / Twitter.
