Georgia Gov. Kemp Signs Law Requiring Jails to Check Immigration Status of Inmates

Georgia’s governor gave the final approval on Wednesday for a bill requiring jailers across the state to check the immigration status of inmates and work with federal immigration officials instead of sheltering people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, making most of the provisions effective immediately.

Kemp also signed a separate law requiring cash bail for an additional 30 crimes, while also restricting people and charitable bail funds from posting cash bonds for more than three people per year unless they meet requirements to become a bail company, according to The Associated Press.  {snip}

The Republican governor said the immigration bill, “became one of our top priorities following the senseless death of Laken Riley at the hands of someone in this country illegally who had already been arrested even after crossing the border.”

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Under the law, local governments will be denied state funding if they fail to cooperate.

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The bill also takes away from efforts championed by former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal in 2018, allowing judges to release most people accused of misdemeanors without bail.

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