Georgia Senate backs bill targeting ‘sanctuary cities’

Local officials in Georgia would have to prove they comply with federal detention requests related to illegal immigrants in order to receive state funding under a measure passed Friday by the state Senate.

Senate Bill 269 aims to increase the state's effort to stop so-called "sanctuary cities," a term that applies to local governments that don't fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities. It comes after the fatal shooting last year of a woman in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times.

State law already bars local governments from adopting "sanctuary" policies and bans state-funded grants going to any governments that adopt such a policy anyway. But there is no reporting requirement to confirm compliance, said the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Jesse Stone, R-Waynesboro. He wants to change that.