Thread: Opponents of GA's new immigration law asking for injunction

Opponents of GA's new immigration law asking for injunction Monday

June 19, 2011

ATLANTA -- A federal judge could rule as soon as Monday whether to block Georgia's new immigration law and prevent it from taking effect on July 1.

Opponents of the law have been granted a 10:00 am hearing at the Russell Federal Building in downtown Atlanta to ask Judge Thomas Thrash to issue an immediate injunction.

If Judge Thrash does grant an injunction -- either Monday or later -- the injunction would delay the law's implementation for months or years.

Already, thousands of illegal immigrants working for Georgia farmers have fled the state, because the workers are afraid of the upcoming crackdown.

Farmers are saying they need those workers, now, to harvest, and save, their crops.

Not all of the law would take effect on July 1, but some of the major provisions would take effect, such as authorizing local police to investigate whether certain criminal suspects are U.S. citizens

Advocates for illegal immigrants filed the lawsuit against the state earlier this month.

The lead plaintiff is the group, "Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights."

Atlanta's Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, has filed a brief in support of the lawsuit, and will be among those in the courtroom Monday morning supporting an injunction.

"If there is no injunction, then as we see, the farmers are already suffering the potential losses of $300 million in crops," Gonzalez told 11Alive News on Sunday. "There've been three federal court rulings upholding the injunction in those Arizona-style legislations [in other states], so we think that this legal team is well-prepared. We do hope that the judge will rule right away."

But Georgia's argument is that Georgia's new statute is constitutional even if Arizona's and other states' laws are not.

And in court Monday, attorneys for the state may echo what Governor Nathan Deal, the lead defendant in the lawsuit, has said repeatedly -- that blocking the new law would prolong the harm that he insists illegal immigrants continue to inflict on Georgia, using public services without paying taxes.

"I believe that the General Assembly was very careful to look at what had been in the Arizona statute," Gov. Deal told 11Alive News earlier this month, "and to not include some of the provisions that were the most controversial in that state's law. They're not included in the Georgia statute. So I think we've avoided much of the criticism that Arizona heard, but at the same time trying to do something we think is meaningful."

Judge Thrash expects his courtroom to be packed to overflowing for the hearing. Court administrators have taken the unusual step of installing a camera and microphones in the courtroom -- electronic transmission of federal court hearings is usually banned -- in order to accommodate an overflow crowd in a nearby room.

www.11alive.com

Federal judge to decide fate of Georgia's anti-illegal immigration law


A federal judge in Atlanta could decide the immediate fate of Georgia’s tough new anti-illegal immigration law today and trigger a chain of additional legal challenges that legal observers say could reach all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.


U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash has scheduled a 10 a.m. hearing for several civil and immigrant rights groups to make their case for halting Georgia’s law.

The American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Law Center and others argue the law is unconstitutional and are asking Thrash to put the law on hold pending the outcome of a lawsuit they have filed to block it.

Thrash is also planning to hear a request from Republican state Attorney General Sam Olens to dismiss the ACLU’s lawsuit. Olens’ office argues the state and U.S. constitutions grant Georgia immunity from such lawsuits.

Thrash, who was nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton, recently indicated he could immediately issue his decisions Monday after telling attorneys in the case that he has been known to rule from the bench.

Whoever loses after Monday’s hearings is expected to appeal to the 11thU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The case could eventually make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court along with other legal challenges targeting similar laws in Arizona and Utah, said R. Keegan Federal Jr., one of the attorneys who is seeking to halt Georgia’s law.

“I do fully expect this one to end up thereâ€

If thousands are fleeing the state, then it seems obvious that they are guilty of being illegal. If you are not illegal, then there is nothing to worry about, now is there.
If the shoe fits, put it on and wear it real snug Charlotte..........

Link to the Lawsuit:

http://www.gand.uscourts.gov/pdf/11cv01804.pdf

Plaintiffs:
Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights; Service Employees International Union; Southern Regional Joint Board of Workers' United; DREAM Activist.org; Task Force for the Homeless; Asian American Legal Advocacy Center; Alterna; Coalition of Latino Leaders; Instituto de Mexico, Inc. of Atlanta; Coalition for the People's Agenda; Paul Bridges; Benjamin Speight; Everitt Howe; Paul J. Edwards; Sharon Gruner; Jane Doe # I; Jaypaul Singh; Ernesto Pinon; John Doe # I; John Doe #2; and Jane Doe #2, Civil

Dixie

Why I'm suing Georgia over immigration law


By Paul W. Bridges, Special to CNN

June 20, 2011 10:21 a.m. EDT

Editor's note: Paul Bridges is the mayor of Uvalda, Georgia, and a member of a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and other organizations to prevent Georgia's new immigration enforcement law, House Bill 87, from going into effect July 1.

(CNN) -- Many are surprised to learn that a conservative Republican mayor like me is involved in a class-action civil-rights lawsuit against my state. And yet, I'm proud to participate in this challenge to Georgia's harsh "papers please" law, which runs counter to America's greatest values and threatens to run my town's economy to the ground.

HB87, which was signed last month by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, would authorize Georgia police to demand proof of citizenship from criminal suspects not carrying an approved form of identification and would also impose criminal penalties for anyone who knowingly harbors or transports an undocumented immigrant.

This law strikes fear in all skilled laborers and anyone associated with them. It will allow officers untrained in immigration issues to detain and investigate anyone they choose. It threatens to tear families apart -- citizen spouses and children will risk permanent separation from undocumented loved ones; grandparents will lose their grandchildren if a family feels forced to leave Georgia.

The people who are challenging this law come from all walks of life, but we all believe that we must fight this broad attack on our basic freedoms and local economies.

Though the law hasn't yet taken effect, its effect can be seen in the farms across southern Georgia. In Uvalda and in neighboring towns, it's not uncommon to see farmers struggling to find enough hands to pick the last of their Vidalia onion, squash and berry crops.

Local businesses will soon be deprived of reliable revenue provided by the workers -- both with and without papers -- who contribute to our economy. Many farmers in southern Georgia fear that this picture will look much bleaker if the law takes effect on July 1 as scheduled.

A farming couple in Graham is sleepless with worry about not being able to repay the federal loan to start their berry business. They fear they won't have workers to pick their berries, a job machines can't do.

I ran for mayor of Uvalda in 2009 because I wanted to see my town become a fairer and more prosperous place. With only 600 people in our town, we know one another pretty well. We give rides to our friends and don't ask for their papers. During harvest season, we open our homes to those who work in the fields. Several farmers provide housing for workers. Even family of friends have stayed in my own home during blueberry season.

Under Georgia's new law, those simple, neighborly activities could become criminal acts. If I fail to use my turn signal or speed while taking fellow parishioners to church, and I incur a traffic violation with an undocumented person in the van, then I could end up with a criminal penalty --even a felony with a second offense. If I don't check the papers of friends who stay with my family, I might be charged with harboring an undocumented person.

This shocking governmental intrusion on one's private activities is why Republicans like me are fighting to keep this heinous law off Georgia's books. Other Republicans, like Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, have understood this issue; even former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue sees the problem. I don't feel alone in this stance.

Furthermore, the law imposes an unfunded mandate that will mean a significant burden on every town's resources. Rather than focusing on their mission to protect and serve, our police officers will now be forced to rent space to jail anyone caught working or living in Uvalda without papers.

In other words, we'll take someone who had previously been contributing to our economy and pay to house him in a jail far from the community. No one knows how long it might take to process the prisoner and then to be picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This isn't the fiscal conservatism my party is supposed to promote.

Worse, the men and women who have friends or family members who are undocumented will be less likely to call the police as witnesses or victims of crime -- and that makes all of us less safe.

Simply put, the Georgia law will strip my town of its economic livelihood and deny those living here of their right to drive with their friends, host members of their family or engage in other daily activities without government intrusion. Any American who values liberty, privacy and prosperity should fight this unnecessary, unconstitutional and extremist law.

I know families leaving Georgia -- a state they have called home for 15 years or more -- rather than break up their families.

One Latino father, who was born in Texas, explained to me last week that his family lives in fear of what happens if he is arrested and charged with transporting an illegal alien -- his wife. He said that his family cannot call 911 if an emergency occurs at their home. His extended family members are affected, too. These are real people in anguish.

Although those fighting this law have been painted as left-of-center, I'll stand proudly with them on Monday to ask the court to recognize that this law goes against the values my Republican Party often pledges to protect. Uvalda, like towns across Georgia, has too much to lose for me to stay out of this fight.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul W. Bridges

http://oneoldvet.com/

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/19/b ... migration/