Georgia lawmakers have started considering a measure to increase penalties for Georgia sanctuary cities that flout state and federal laws.
Under Senate Bill 21, local governments and their officials could face lawsuits if they violate the state law banning immigration sanctuary policies. It would also require jails to hold illegal aliens temporarily at the federal government’s request.
“It’s a very simple bill,” Georgia Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said during a Monday Senate Committee on Public Safety meeting. “It doesn’t actually add any additional requirements for immigration policies in our state.
“It simply says that the Georgia laws that we have already passed here — mainly wrapped up in House Bill 1105 last year — have a little bit more teeth to them,” Tillery added. “Those teeth being that if a city or county or local official does not enforce those immigration rules, this, our general assembly as a whole has already passed, that they waive their sovereign immunity if something bad were to happen because of that.”
The safety committee could continue considering the bill on Wednesday.
