Georgia House Republicans approved a bill Thursday requiring all eligible police and sheriff’s departments to assist in the identification, arrest, and detention of illegal aliens for deportation. House Bill 1105 passed the House with a 97-74 vote and came in response to the brutal murder of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. The bill will now proceed to the Georgia Senate for additional debate. If passed and signed into law, it will effectively make ‘sanctuary’ cities and counties illegal in Georgia.
Riley was murdered by 26-year-old illegal alien Jose Ibarra. Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University’s Athens campus, was found dead on February 22 after a reported failure to return from a morning run. According to immigration authorities, Ibarra unlawfully entered the United States in 2022.
The bill, if passed, will also introduce new directives for jail officials regarding their interaction with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to verify an individual’s immigration status. Sheriffs failing to check immigration status could be charged with a misdemeanor under the new law. Additionally, state funding would be denied to prisons and sheriffs not in compliance.
The city of Athens and its surrounding county are alleged to be ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions. Athens-Clarke County Sheriff John Williams campaigned on an explicit promise to refuse to cooperate with ICE.