A Nation In Distress

A Nation In Distress

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Federal Judge Blocks Georgia's Arizona-Style Immigration Law

From Homeland Security NewsWire:


Federal judge blocks Georgia's Arizona-style immigration law



Published 30 June 2011



On Monday, portions of a Georgia immigration law were blocked by a federal judge on the grounds that the role of enforcing immigration was a federal responsibility; under the law, all businesses in Georgia would be required to check the immigration status of all new hires, police officers would be able to verify the immigration status of anyone unable to provide proper identification during a routine stop, and it would be illegal for anyone to knowingly or willingly transport illegal aliens



On Monday, portions of a Georgia immigration law were blocked by a federal judge on the grounds that the role of enforcing immigration was a federal responsibility.



Under the law, all businesses in Georgia would be required to check the immigration status of all new hires. The Georgia law also adopted a similar policy to the controversial Arizona immigration law which would allow police officers to verify the immigration status of anyone unable to provide proper identification during a routine stop. The law went one step further and made it illegal for anyone to knowingly or willingly transport illegal aliens.



Judge Thomas Thrash granted a request that blocked the law’s last two provisions stating that they “[convert] many routine encounters with law enforcement into lengthy and intrusive immigration status investigations.”



Judge Thrash’s ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by civil liberties groups which argued that the new law was unconstitutional and would encourage racial profiling.



On the other side, Georgia’s senior assistant attorney general Devon Orland argued that the law was needed as both medical facilities and prisons were being strained by illegal immigrants.



The Georgia law is similar to many of the provisions in Arizona’s immigration bill which has been blocked by a federal judge. The judge maintained that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and that the Arizona law overstepped its bounds.

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