ATLANTA — Georgia Senate Democrats spent the second day of the legislative session proposing new laws to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents accountable in the state.
A group of lawmakers introduced legislation to make ICE agents working in Georgia stop wearing masks and wear identification while conducting immigration enforcement operations.
At the Capitol on Tuesday, Channel 2’s Richard Elliot spoke to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the bills being proposed.
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“What we have seen across the country and here in our own state is that masked strangers with no identification are coming in and stealing our neighbors,” Stone Mountain Democrat State Sen. Kim Jackson told Channel 2 Action News.
Democratic state senators proposed four bills in response to the recent activity in Minneapolis where Renee Good, a mother of three died during a confrontation with an ICE agent.
The legislation filed includes one that would require agents unmask during raids and wear visible identification.
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Another bill would prevent members of the Georgia National Guard from assisting ICE operations without permission from the governor, while a third would require ICE get a judicial warrant before they’re able to raid day cares, churches and schools.
A fourth bill proposed would hold agents civilly liable if something goes wrong during the operation.
“Right now, there is no way under state law to hold federal agents accountable when they commit physical assaults or even murders against U.S. citizens and lawful immigrants in this country,” Sandy Springs Democrat Sen. Josh McLaurin said.
The bills proposed by Democrats at the Capitol are already getting pushback from Georgia Republicans.
“They disagree with the current laws we have on the books because our law enforcement officials, like ICE agents, are doing their jobs,” Republican Sen. Brian Strickland, McDonough, told Elliot. “They’ve been tasked with enforcing the law. They take an oath to do that and we pass these bills that try to interfere with that.”
The bills also got pushback from Columbus State Sen. Randy Robertson, a former longtime law enforcement officer.
“To jump out prior to an investigation being completed, an investigation that has barely started, and thinking that you’re going to drop legislation to solve what you don’t understand, I think is reckless and irresponsible,” Robertson said.
Robertson also told Channel 2 Action News that he believed federal agents and police officers and their agencies could be sued if it’s proven they violated the law and their policies and procedures.
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