State officials filed court papers this week offering a preview of how they will appeal a federal judge’s recent decision to temporarily halt the most controversial parts of Georgia’s tough new immigration enforcement law.
In documents filed with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the state attorney general’s office says it will focus on eight questions. Among those questions is one that reaches to the heart of the case: whether the halted sections of Georgia’s statute illegally intrude on the federal government's power to regulate immigration.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Devon Orland says in court papers that those halted provisions mirror the objectives of federal law. She also asks whether U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash “properly determined that the public interest weighs in favor” of his decision to halt portions of the law. Additionally, she asks whether Thrash properly determined the state will “only be slightly burdened” by his decision to put parts of the law on hold.
When he issued his decision in a 45-page ruling last month, Thrash sharply criticized state officials for making an end run around federal law.
One of the provisions he put on hold would empower police to investigate the immigration status of suspects who they believe have committed state or federal crimes and who cannot produce identification, such as a driver's license, or provide other information that could help police identify them. The other part he halted would punish people who -- while committing another offense -- knowingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants or encourage them to come here.
The judge said the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil and immigrant rights groups who are suing to block the law have shown they are likely to succeed in arguments that these provisions are pre-empted by federal law.
A spokeswoman for Republican Attorney General Sam Olens said Olens’ office will file a brief outlining the basis for the state’s appeal.
Meanwhile, one of the groups fighting House Bill 87 in court indicated this week that it will continue to challenge other parts of the law in court.
“There are several there that are, if nothing else, inhuman,” said Teodoro Maus, president of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights.
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