From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
By KATE BRUMBACK, The Associated Press–June 27, 2011 05:31 PM EDT
ATLANTA — A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked parts of Georgia’s strict new law targeting illegal immigration from taking effect, including a provision that authorizes police to check the immigration status of suspects without proper identification and to detain illegal immigrants.
Georgia’s became the latest in a string of state laws that have been at least temporarily stopped by legal challenges. All or parts of similar laws in Arizona, Utah and Indiana also have been blocked by federal judges.
Judge Thomas Thrash also granted a request from civil liberties groups to block a part of Georgia’s law that penalizes people who knowingly and willingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants while committing another crime.
“The defendants wildly exaggerate the scope of the federal crime of harboring under (the law) when they claim that the Plaintiffs are violating federal immigration law by giving rides to their friends and neighbors who are illegal aliens,” he said.
The judge was especially critical of that provision, blasting the state’s assertion that federal immigration enforcement is “passive.” Thrash noted that federal immigration officers remove more than 900 foreign citizens from the country on an average day. (more…)
Filed under: Arizona-copycat laws, immigrant community, Law, Law Enforcement | Tagged: Arizona, Brian Robinson, Georgia, Indiana, Jan Brewer, Karen Tumlin, Matt Ramsey, Nathan Deal, National Immigration Law Center, Sam Olens, Thomas Thrash, Utah | Leave a Comment »
