After the U. of Georgia murder, lawmakers are pushing for stricter immigration laws

Republican lawmakers in Georgia are pushing for stricter state laws governing the detention of undocumented immigrants after a killing on a college campus sent shockwaves through the state.

Last Thursday, the body of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old woman, was found in a wooded area on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens. Authorities say the man accused of the killing is Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, a migrant from Venezuela who crossed the southern border in September 2022.

Officials said Mr. Ibarra and Ms. Riley did not know each other before the encounter that ended in Ms. Riley’s death.

Following an outpouring of grief in Athens, Georgia’s immigration policies have come under renewed scrutiny, with Republican lawmakers seeking to exert more state power over local law enforcement agencies. Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz has drawn criticism from conservatives for his welcoming attitude toward migrants, and a bill in the state House that would tighten Georgia’s existing immigration laws has gained new momentum.

After crossing the border, Mr. Ibarra was arrested by the Border Patrol before being released with temporary permission to remain in the country. Since then he has had several run-ins with the police. Last August, he was briefly arrested in New York City for riding a scooter without a license and with a child not wearing a helmet, an official there said. Mr. Ibarra was also arrested in Georgia in October, Athens-Clarke County police said, in connection with a shoplifting case.

Under current state law, law enforcement officers are encouraged to notify immigration authorities when detaining someone who is not a legal resident of the United States.

The new bill aims to make this notification a requirement and ensure that law enforcement officials comply with requests from immigration authorities to detain people. J. Terry Norris, executive director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, said the bill was “an expansion of existing law” but “has more teeth.”

To enforce the change, the bill says, the state would withhold funding or punish officials who don’t follow the rules. On Tuesday, lawmakers advanced the measure out of a committee in the House of Representatives.

Houston Gaines, a state representative who supports the bill and whose district includes parts of Athens, said the measure was intended “to ensure that local governments fully comply with immigration law, with severe penalties if they do not.”

If passed, the bill would move Georgia one step closer to becoming one of the strictest states on immigration enforcement. such as Texas and Florida, according to Lena Graber, a senior staff attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Even in states without these laws, local officials often voluntarily cooperate with immigration authorities, she said.

“It plays a role in the battle for federalism on civil rights issues, broadly speaking,” Ms. Graber said, “and states that really want more power to enact criminal laws like this.”

Although still in its early stages, the Georgia bill making its way to the state House appears to have a clear path to passage, said David Schaefer, the vice president of research and policy at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

“Language like this, and training around this new language in code, could trigger an increase in compliance with ICE detentions,” he said, adding that state lawmakers have restricted migration many times over the years — a pattern that has been partly influenced by the politics of the election year.

Record numbers of migrants have crossed the southern border under the Biden administration — a fact that Republicans have aggressively used against President Biden and other Democratic lawmakers.

Many conservative politicians, including Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia, born in Athens, have said the murder was related to President Biden’s immigration policy. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Biden urged to close the border two days after Ms Riley’s death.

But national data suggest there is no causal link between immigration and crime in the country, and the growth of illegal immigration is not leading to higher local crime rates. Lots of research to have found it That immigrants Are less likely than people born in the United States commit crimes.

On Wednesday, a small group of protesters interrupted a news conference and blamed Ms. Riley’s murder on Mr. Girtz, the mayor, saying he had “blood on your hands.” Sometimes their screams drowned out his comments.

In 2019, he passed a resolution “in support of the immigrant, undocumented and Latinx community in Athens” and states that Athens-Clarke County is “committed to undoing the harm” caused by white supremacy.

But the resolution made no mention of the term “sanctuary city,” which protesters on Wednesday claimed Athens had become. Mr. Girtz said the city had not adopted any policy to create sanctuary status, although he acknowledged that the meaning of the term could vary from place to place.

One of the protesters, Laurie Waters Camp of Athens, said she was appalled that Mr. Girtz was “putting undocumented immigrants – his political agenda to bring them here, to welcome them here – over the safety and concerns of our citizens and students had stated.”

Adeel Hassan And Chelsia Rose Marcius reporting contributed.