Appeals Court Clears One Part of Georgia’s Immigration Law; Blocks Another

WABE

August 20th, 2012

In a much-anticipated ruling Monday afternoon, the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed one part of Georgia’s controversial new immigration law to go forward. But it continued an injunction against another section of H.B. 87. WABE’s Denis O’Hayer takes a look.

In a 33-page ruling, the Court looked at two sections of the law that had been put under injunction by a district court. At issue was whether state lawmakers intruded on Federal authority, when they passed those two provisions.

The appeals court lifted the injunction on what’s often called the “show-us-your-papers” section. So now, state, county, and local law enforcement officers can check the immigration status of suspects they pick up on other charges–if the suspects cannot produce the proper documentation. The judges noted the Supreme Court recently approved a similar provision in Arizona. And the appeals court found that this section of Georgia’s law does not infringe on Federal jurisdiction, but cooperates with it.

But the court kept the injunction on a section of Georgia’s law that makes it illegal for someone who’s committing another crime to also transport or shelter illegal immigrants, or induce them to come to Georgia. The Appeals Court noted that H.B. 87 does exempt social service providers, for instance. But it found that this section of the law is pre-empted by what it called “an overwhelmingly dominant Federal interest in the field.” The court said Congress set up immigration enforcement as an integrated Federal system, and added, “The prospect of fifty individual attempts to regulate immigration-related matters cautions against permitting states to intrude into this area of dominant Federal concern.”

The Appeals Court then sent both of the contested sections back to the district court for possible further litigation. In a statement, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens noted only one section of H.B. 87 has been invalidated by the courts, and he will review the new ruling to decide if the state should appeal or not. Denis O’Hayer, WABE news.