Georgians are bracing for a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could come as early as Monday and help decide whether a substantial part of the state’s illegal immigration law is constitutional and may be enforced.
At issue is a provision in Georgia’s law that would authorize state and local police to investigate the immigration status of suspects 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 law would also empower police to detain people who are determined to be in the country illegally and take them to jail.
The court is preparing to rule on the constitutionality of four parts of a similar law in Arizona. The Obama administration has sued to block those provisions, saying they would interfere with the federal government’s authority to set immigration policy. The court’s ruling could affect the fate of Georgia’s statute, which is stuck in a federal appeals court in Atlanta amid a legal challenge brought by civil and immigrant rights groups.
Supporters of Georgia's law say illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from the state's residents and filling public schools, jails and hospitals. Critics say it is divisive and fear it could lead to racial profiling, even though the law prohibits it.
Bob Richardson, a retired Realtor who lives near Chamblee in DeKalb County, said he hopes the court’s ruling will allow Georgia to enforce its own law.
“People I think are getting fed up with it because it seems like [illegal immigrants] are getting a free pass,” he said. “They are getting a free education. They are getting a lot of perks. And it encourages them to come over here illegally.”
Richardson also criticized President Barack Obama, saying it “never seems like he wants to enforce our immigration laws.”
Obama's supporters point out that his administration has deported a record number of illegal immigrants and other noncitizens.
On Friday, black and white civil rights activists gathered across from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and called for comprehensive and “humane” changes in immigration law. Calling their coalition “Building the World House,” members drew parallels between the fight and the civil rights movement.
“I know that if others don’t get freedom, they will pull me back to where I was,” said the Rev. C.T. Vivian, the interim president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who repeatedly invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s name Friday.
Teodoro Maus, president of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, said he was glad Hispanics and blacks were working together on immigration.
“We haven’t been able to unite because of huge misinformation,” he said. “Latinos were told African-Americans were going to rob them, and African-Americans were told Hispanics were here to take their jobs.”
Jackie Crowe, a retired teacher from Stockbridge, said she wants the court to side with Arizona next week so Georgia can enforce its law and prevent illegal immigrants from taking jobs from U.S. citizens.
“The local and state police need the authority to check the immigration status of anyone stopped who cannot produce valid identification,” she said. “This is a reasonable and necessary measure to help secure our borders.”
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