GOP pushes to hold sanctuary jurisdictions’ ‘feet to the fire’ in state where Laken Riley was killed

Georgia Republicans are introducing a bill to hold sanctuary jurisdictions financially accountable for damage and crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Nearly two years since 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 local governments’ “feet to the fire” when they refuse to enforce the law.

“You’ve seen these issues all across the country, in Minneapolis, certainly in Los Angeles … where you have really liberal local governments that just simply aren’t enforcing the law, and so we’re going to put an end to it here in Georgia,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Gaines, who is running for Congress represents the district where Riley was killed, is one of six Republicans co-sponsoring the bill. The state already bans sanctuary policies at the local level. If passed, the measure would allow citizens to help crack down on jurisdictions attempting to subvert Georgia’s ban by enabling property and business owners to seek financial compensation from local governments for damages caused by sanctuary-style immigration policies.

Under the bill, property owners and leaseholders can claim compensation from jurisdictions that adopt a “policy, pattern, or practice” of failing to comply with state immigration enforcement laws, declining to enforce laws against activities such as illegal public camping or shoplifting, or allowing a public nuisance that harms the property.

Gaines said that while Georgia does not come immediately to mind when thinking of sanctuary jurisdictions, cities such as Atlanta and Athens, where Riley was killed, have previously been lax in enforcement.

“Georgia is a red state, but we do have blue jurisdictions,” he explained. “I get calls all the time in Athens of a business or a family who’s woken up to someone in their front yard or at a business where they’ve had someone break in overnight. There’s all sorts of issues where these liberal local governments frankly just aren’t doing their job and not enforcing the law.”

“What we’re doing here is making sure that people across the state know that if your local government is not 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 hit them in the pocketbook.”

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Georgia is not the first state to make such a move. In 2024, Arizona voters approved a proposition to let property owners apply for property tax refunds if their local city, town, or county fails to enforce certain public nuisance laws and the owner incurs documented expenses as a result. The Georgia bill, however, would allow citizens to file directly for reimbursement through lawsuits.

Gaines said the intent of the bill is to serve as a deterrent for liberal jurisdictions considering not enforcing the law.

“Our whole goal here is not for all these refunds to occur, it’s just for local governments to enforce the existing law on the books,” he said. “If a local jurisdiction is getting complaints, they simply clean it up and fix what they’re doing wrong so that you don’t see repeated complaints.”

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Gaines said that he believes his bill could serve as a model for other states.

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“I would encourage other states to do this because it is something that I believe will work and will hold local governments accountable if they’re failing to enforce their own laws and putting their own citizens in dangerous situations … that’s what we’re trying to avoid with this legislation.”

Gaines is running to replace Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who is running for U.S. Senate. 

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