Georgia House passes bill requiring jailers to identify and hold immigrants after student's killing

Barbed wire lines at a recreation area at the Stewart Detention Center, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, in Lumpkin, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Georgia House Republicans are backing a bill that would require every eligible police and sheriff’s department to help identify undocumented immigrants and detain them for possible deportation.

The House voted 97-74 on Thursday for House Bill 1105 after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of Georgia campus. The measure moves to the state Senate for more debate.

Jose Ibarra was arrested Friday on murder and assault charges in the Thursday death of 22-year-old Laken Riley. Ibarra, 26, is a Venezuelan citizen who immigration authorities say unlawfully crossed into the United States in 2022. It is unclear whether he has applied for asylum.