Governor to Appeal Federal Judge's Temporary Injunction of Parts of Immigration Law

Gov. Nathan Deal said Monday he would appeal a federal court ruling to block two sections of Georgia’s new immigration law pending resolution of a legal challenge.

“Gov. Deal is disappointed that the court enjoined two sections of Georgia’s immigration law,” said Brian Robinson, the governor’s deputy chief of staff for communications. “Curiously, the court writes ‘all illegal aliens will leave Georgia’ if the law is enforced, as if it is appalled at the thought of people attaining visas before coming to our nation. The federal court’s ruling, however, will crystallize for Georgians and other Americans our underlying problem: Beyond refusing to help with our state’s illegal immigration problem, the federal government is determined to be an obstacle. The state of Georgia narrowly tailored its immigration law to conform with existing federal law and court rulings. Georgians can rest assured that this battle doesn’t end here; we will appeal this decision.”

Only two of the 23 provisions of the law were blocked by Judge Thomas Thrash's ruling. Blocked was the part that penalizes people who transport or harbor illegal immigrants as well as the part that authorize officers to verify the immigration status of someone who can't provide proper identification. Both of these provisions were set to go into effect July 1.