ATLANTA — A Georgia state senator plans to push legislation next session to “strengthen enforcement measures particularly in the area of identifying and prosecuting illegal aliens who have committed additional violations while in Georgia.”
In an exclusive interview with the Atlanta Headlines Examiner, state Sen. Jeff Mullis said “the damaging impact of illegal immigration on our state” served as the impetus for the proposed legislation.
While Mullis and several of his Senate colleagues “are still in the planning stages,” the Chickamauga Republican pulled no punches in discussing the Obama administration’s decision to sue Arizona over its new immigration law.
“The Obama administration is shameful in its attack on the sovereign state of Arizona,” Mullis said. “We will not shy away from doing what is right to protect Georgians just because of a threat from the federal government. If the Obama administration would spend its time securing our borders as opposed to attacking the state of Arizona perhaps they could solve this problem.”
Nationally, illegal aliens cost taxpayers $113 billion per year, according to a new report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Illegal aliens cost Georgians $1.6 billion or more, estimates suggest.
“Georgia became the first state in the nation to pass a comprehensive measure aimed at protecting our citizens from the harmful impacts of illegal immigration,” Mullis said. “The Arizona law requires law enforcement to check the lawful status of persons detained for violations other than unlawful entry. Georgia law requires law enforcement to check lawful status of anyone booked into jail. The two laws are already very similar.”