The state Senate passed House Bill 1105 last week.
The bill will require local law enforcement agencies to verify the immigration status of people aged 18 years or older who have been arrested. It will also require local law enforcement agencies to enter annually into memoranda of understanding with federal law enforcement programs.
Senator John Albers, a Republican from Roswell Georgia, introduced the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act during a floor session late last week. He claimed the bill is an important public safety measure.
“We can make it about a lot of things that it’s not, but this is very simple and I’ll repeat it as I close. This is about criminals who are in our country illegally. We are a pro-public safety state. We back the blue. We care more about the victims than we do about the criminals,” Albers stated.
Senator Albers stated that the bill does not target Georgia’s immigrant community as a whole.
Senator Nabilah Islam Parkes, however, a Democrat from Duluth, slammed the bill in a report from Senate Democrats.
“House Bill 1105 wages war against immigrants in this state,” she said.
House Bill 1105 passed 34 to 19.
