Ga. Senate Committee Passes House Immigration Bill

Updated: Wednesday, 30 Mar 2011, 9:08 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 30 Mar 2011, 9:08 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia Senate committee has passed an altered version of a House bill that aims to crack down on illegal immigration.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted to pass the bill authored by Rep. Matt Ramsey. But the version that passed the Senate committee is a hybrid of Ramsey’s bill and a similar bill sponsored by Sen. Jack Murphy.

A House committee on Monday had gutted Murphy’s bill and substituted the text of Ramsey’s bill.

The version of Ramsey’s bill that passed the committee still includes provisions requiring employers to check the immigration status of new hires and authorizes law enforcement to check the immigration status of certain criminal suspects.

Ramsey’s bill was not originally on the committee’s agenda for Wednesday but was added at the last minute.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/ga ... ill-033011