Atlanta judge no stranger to immigration challenges
The judge assigned to hear the challenge to Georgia's strict new immigration law was once active in state Democratic politics -- and, after joining the federal bench, rejected a lawsuit seeking to overturn a state law that prohibits illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash, 60, was nominated to the Atlanta court by President Bill Clinton.
Thrash obtained his law degree from Harvard University and entered private practice following two years as a Fulton County prosecutor. He became a successful plaintiffs’ lawyer and was chairman of the Cobb County Democratic Party. He also has served as an attorney for the state Democratic Party.
On the bench, Thrash is all business. Lawyers who appear before him applaud him for being deliberative and open-minded.
In 2001, Thrash was assigned a lawsuit challenging Georgia's law that restricts illegal immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses. The suit maintained illegal immigrants were denied equal protection because the law interfered with their right to interstate travel.
Thrash said the suit’s argument applied “the remarkable assumption that an illegal alien has the same fundamental rights as a citizen or lawful resident alien.” Because an illegal immigrant is subject to immediate arrest and deportation, Thrash said, “it strains all bounds of logic and reason to say such a person has a fundamental right of interstate travel.”
Thrash dismissed the challenge. The state, he said, "has a legitimate interest in not allowing its governmental machinery to be a facilitator in the concealment of illegal aliens."
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
