Though a federal judge temporarily blocked parts of Georgia’s strict new immigration law this week, the rest of the law will go into effect Friday, including one provision that would penalize people who use a fake ID to get a job with up to 15 years in jail and up to $250,000 in fines.
On Monday, a federal judge issued an injunction against two provisions from the controversial immigration law, after hearing testimony from the ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center, who filed a lawsuit in opposition to the law.
Similar to the most controversial parts of Arizona’s own immigration law, one of the halted provisions would allow law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally who is believed to have committed a state or federal crime. Police would also have the authority to arrest the suspected illegal immigrants. The second provision would penalize people for committing crimes while knowingly transporting or harboring illegal immigrants, with up to a year in prison and $1,000 fine.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in addition to the provision about fake identification, three other provisions will go into effect Friday. One establishes an “Immigration Enforcement Review Board” to oversee complaints about unenforced immigration laws.
Jeremy Redmon of the AJC outlines the other two:
Government officials who violate state laws requiring cities, counties and state government agencies to use the federal E-Verify work authorization program could face fines up to $10,000 and removal from office.
The state Agriculture Department will be directed to study the possibility of creating Georgia’s own guest-worker program. Some Georgia employers have complained that the federal government’s guest-worker program is too burdensome and expensive.
South Carolina signed similarly tough immigration legislation earlier this week.
Gov. Nikki Haley (R) signed a law Monday that will form a $1.3 million Illegal Immigration Enforcement Unit after July 1st within the state’s public safety department. According to Reuters, “the unit will have 12 full-time officers, as well as its own unique uniforms and vehicle markings.”
