Red state GOP moves to hit sanctuary cities in the pocketbook with liability law
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Jose Ibarra’s new legal team argues that errors during the initial trial justify a new trial. Judge Patrick Haggard, who presided over the original trial and imposed the maximum sentence, will hear the motion in Georgia.
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Georgia Republicans are introducing a bill that would hold sanctuary counties financially responsible for harm and crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
Nearly two years after nursing student Laken Riley was killed by an illegal immigrant at the University of Georgia, Republican state Rep. Houston Gaines said the bill would help “hold the feet to the fire” of local governments that refuse to enforce the law.
“You’ve seen these issues all over the country, in Minneapolis, certainly in Los Angeles… we have really liberal local governments here that are not enforcing the law, and so we’re going to put an end to this here in Georgia,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Gaines, who is running for Congress representing the district where Riley was killed, is one of six Republicans who support the bill. The state already bans sanctuary policies at the local level. If passed, the measure would allow citizens, property and business owners to help put pressure on jurisdictions seeking to overturn Georgia’s ban by allowing them to seek financial compensation from local governments for harms caused by sanctuary-style immigration policies.
The Georgia Capitol building is seen in Atlanta on August 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Under the bill, property owners and homeowners would be able to seek compensation from jurisdictions that have adopted a “policy, pattern, or practice” of failing to comply with state immigration enforcement laws, refusing to enforce laws against activities such as illegal public camping or shoplifting, or permitting a public nuisance that causes property damage.
Gaines said Georgia doesn’t immediately come to mind when it comes to sanctuary jurisdictions, but cities like Atlanta and Athens, where Riley was killed, have previously been lax in enforcement.
“Georgia is a red state, but we have blue jurisdictions,” he explained. “I get calls all the time in Athens from a business or a family waking up to the sound of someone in their front yard, or a business where someone broke in overnight. There are a lot of problems where these liberal local governments are frankly not doing their job and not enforcing the law.”
“What we’re doing here is making sure people across the state know that if your local government isn’t doing their job, it’s time for the state to step up and make sure they do it, and the way to do that is to get into their wallets.”
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Jose Ibarra (left) was found guilty of 10 felonies in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley (right). (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Magazine-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Georgia isn’t the first state to make such a move. In 2024, Arizona voters approved a proposal that would allow property owners to apply for a property tax refund if the local city, town, or county fails to enforce certain public nuisance laws and the property owner incurs documented expenses as a result. However, the Georgia bill would allow citizens to apply for refunds directly through litigation.
Gaines said the purpose of the bill is to act as a deterrent to liberal jurisdictions that consider not enforcing the law.
“Our whole goal here is not for all these refunds to happen, but just for local governments to enforce existing law on the books,” he said. “If a local jurisdiction gets a complaint, they will clean it up and correct what they did wrong, so you don’t end up with repeat complaints.”
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View of the Atlanta skyline from Piedmont Park. (iStock)
Gaines said he believes his bill could set an example for other states.
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“I would encourage other states to do this because it’s something that I believe will work and hold local governments accountable if they fail to enforce their own laws and put their own citizens in dangerous situations…that’s what we’re trying to avoid with this legislation.”
Gaines will run to replace Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who is running for the U.S. Senate.
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