Georgia Bill: Local authorities must help enforce immigration law

Georgia lawmakers are considering legislation that supporters say is intended to ensure the deportation of people in the country illegally who commit crimes.

The bill is known as the END Act, which stands for Ensuring Necessary Deportations. Supporters of the measure say it would increase accountability and make the state safer.

“I think someone who’s already in the country without lawful status who then commits a crime, we ought to be doing everything we can to have that person deported,” said Republican state Sen. Josh McKoon, a supporter of the bill.

But critics say the measure is unconstitutional, harmful to immigrant communities and could result in people being held unlawfully. A person’s immigration status isn’t always easy to determine, and it’s not clear how police and state court judges would accurately make that determination, they say.

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