Ga. Law Enforcement Allowed to Move Forward with ‘Show Me Your Papers’ Provision
State and local police can start enforcing the controversial so called “show me your papers” portion of Georgia’s immigration law after a federal judge cleared the way for the provision to go into effect. U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash signed an order Monday that removed a block he placed on the provision last year. The move came after the 11th Circuit Court of appeals said the provision should be allowed to go into effect. The portion of law that was ruled on allows police to verify the immigration status of those committing a crime but who fail to produce proper identification.
Attorney and WABE legal analyst Page Pate says the order allows authorities to move forward with enforcing the law as long as they’re not overtly discriminatory.
“They can do the stop you. They can ask for identification. They can run the immigration background check, and if they find they are illegal they can either detain them or turn them over to Homeland Security.”
But under Thrash’s order, the part of the law that makes it illegal for someone to knowingly harbor or transport an illegal immigrant while committing a crime remains blocked, and the lawsuit against the provision and other portions of the law will continue.
Pate says how the provision and others like it are enforced could impact what happens next.
“It’s going to be interesting to see once these laws go into effect how they will enforce them. And if they overdo it, we might see some of these laws struck down.”
Critics fear the provision will lead to racial profiling and be enforced inconsistently. But Frank Rotondo, who serves as executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, doesn’t believe it will cause abuse, especially in agencies which are state certified.
“I can guarantee you the 100 agencies that are in are state certification program will have a good racial profiling policy. Those policies should exist in most department already, stating that you have to have articulable facts to justify your stops of vehicles.
And Rotondo says he thinks the provision will be an extra tool but he doesn’t see most agencies amending their policies substantially, if at all. That’s the case in the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s office. In a statement, the office says “Since the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office participates in 287 (g), we haven’t seen a need to change our current policies and procedures at this time.” Meanwhile, the Fulton county Police Department says it will work with the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police to develop policies, procedures and training for the new law.
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