A State House committee has passed a bill that would tighten immigration enforcement in so-called “sanctuary cities.”
In a committee meeting yesterday, Representative Jesse Petrea, a Republican from Savannah, presented House Bill 1105. The bill would require local law enforcement agencies to coordinate closely with the federal government when people found to have entered the country illegally are taken into custody. If passed, the bill would punish communities who fail to communicate with federal agencies if they have detained individuals who entered the country illegally.
“Any sheriff’s office or law enforcement agency of a governing body that acts in violation of this code shall be subject to the withholding of state funding or state administered federal funding. The Department of Community Affairs, DOT, those are the entities we’re talking about here that will require certification,” Petrea elaborated.
Petrea noted that the bill was authored over a year ago. The recent murder of Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus late last week has accelerated its path through committee. Representative Houston Gaines, a Republican from Athens:
“This issue right now in my community is the most important issue certainly as we have unspeakable tragedy in Athens over the past several days.”
Gaines introduced legislation of his own earlier this week regarding immigration enforcement. Some language from that bill was absorbed by House Bill 1105.
