Georgia House Approves Tough Migrant Law After Student Murder
Some Georgia lawmakers have had enough of President Joe Biden’s catch-and-release program pushing violent illegal migrants into towns and even college campuses. And in the wake of a University of Georgia student’s tragic murder, Republicans are on the march.
The state House passed a measure to mandate that each eligible police and sheriff’s department assist in collaring these criminals. Officers would help identify illegal migrants, arrest and hold them for deportation.
The Thursday vote was 97-74 in favor of House Bill 1105. It followed the arrest of an illegal migrant from Venezuela in the shocking beating death of UGA co-ed Laken Riley, 22.
Riley was a nursing student out for a jog on Feb. 22 when she was attacked. Her roommate reported that she did not return, launching a frantic search.
Her body was found in a wooded area near a campus lake.
Jose Ibarra was taken into custody Friday on murder and other charges connected to Riley’s death. The 26-year-old is believed to have crossed into the country illegally in 2022 and moved to Athens from New York City.
The bill passed by the Georgia House last week would establish new procedures for jail officials to check on an incarcerated person’s legal status. They would be forced to inquire with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the individual and their right to be in the country.
According to Morgan County Sheriff Brad Freeman, current policy does not require that fingerprints of an arrested individual be sent to ICE. They will be fingerprinted, he confirmed, and these may or may not be forwarded to various agencies.
That oversight would change under the measure proposed by Georgia House Republicans.
HB 1105 goes further and punishes so-called “sanctuary” cities and law enforcement agencies who do not comply with reporting policies. Monthly reports would be required on the illegal migrants detained by authorities.
Democrats, of course, argued that the move is simply politics. That did not sit well with Athens Republican Rep. Houston Gaines.
He told detractors that “fixing policy in the face of unspeakable tragedy is not politics. It’s doing the right thing to ensure something like this never happens again.”
