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