Immigration-related bills fail to advance in Georgia Legislature

Georgia lawmakers have shown little appetite this year for controversial measures aimed at immigrants without legal status, deciding against advancing one that would block them from getting state driver’s licenses and another that would make them eligible for in-state college tuition.

Sponsored by state Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, Senate Bill 6 would ban state driver's licenses for immigrants without legal status who have been granted work permits and special reprieves from deportation. SB 6 never made it out of Senate Public Safety Committee. Friday — or Crossover Day — was the deadline for legislation to move from one chamber to the other and still have a chance of winning final approval this year. McKoon said in an email Monday that he looks forward to "continuing the debate on this important issue into next year."

Senate Bill 44 would make immigrants accepted into the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — or DACA — eligible to pay in-state college tuition rates in Georgia. Sponsored by Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, SB 44 didn't make it out of the Senate Higher Education Committee by Friday.

Georgia’s University System bars DACA recipients from paying in-state college tuition rates, which are several thousand dollars below the out-of-state rates. Last year, a Fulton County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to reverse that policy. The plaintiffs have appealed. Orrock said she is not giving up on her legislation and will continue to work on it over the summer.

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