Friday, May 13, 2011

Georgia Governor Deal Signs Immigration Enforcement Bill Into Law

Governor Nathan Deal

Immigration law takes effect on July.

By H. Nelson Goodson
May 13, 2011

Atlanta, Georgia - On Friday, Governor Nathan Deal (R) signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011 into law giving authority to state and local law enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants who commit minor violations and serious crimes.
“This immigration reform measure fulfills my promise to Georgians to crack down on the influx of illegal immigrants into our state. Georgia has the sixth-highest number of illegal residents, and this comes at enormous expense to Georgia taxpayers. Those who claim that this law will have a negative financial impact on Georgia completely ignore the billions of dollars Georgians have spent on our schools, our hospitals, our courtrooms and our jails because of people who are in our state illegally," Deal said in a press conference.
The governor's office estimates that at least 480,000 undocumented immigrants reside in Georgia.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other civil rights groups plan to file lawsuits to block the law from taking effect on July. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is likely to file an injunction against Georgia as it did with Arizona and its SB 1070 bill. The Arizona bill hasn't been able to be enacted, since major provisions of the law were blocked in federal court.
Georgia is expected to lose millions of dollars trying to legally defend their position to implement the immigration bill. 
Both Georgia and Arizona have passed state immigration enforcement bills, which most likely never be implemented costing taxpayers millions.

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