Rights Working Group Applauds Partial Injunction of Georgia’s HB87; Calls on State Officials to End Anti-Immigrant Hostility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Keith Rushing

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Washington, D.C. -- (June 29, 2011) Rights Working Group praises Monday’s federal court decision blocking the most troubling parts of HB87, Georgia’s “papers please” law.  Had it gone into effect, HB87 would have led to rampant racial profiling and targeting of immigrants and people of color.

H.B. 87, similar to another ”show me your papers” law, Arizona’s S.B 1070, would have empowered local and state police officers to demand that people, based on their appearance, produce documentation to prove that they  reside in the state legally.  The bill also would have made it a crime to knowingly transport or harbor undocumented immigrants or encourage them to move to Georgia.

Federal Judge Tom Thrash  in his 45-page decision appropriately condemned the bill, as intended “to create such a climate of hostility fear, mistrust and insecurity” that undocumented immigrants would leave Georgia. Thrash, like other federal judges reviewing similar immigration enforcement bills from other states, said Georgia lawmakers in passing H.B. 87 seek to interfere with the federal government’s clear role in enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.

“ Rights Working Group joins other civil rights and human rights groups in celebrating this decision for its accurate interpretation of the law and the judge’s recognition that this bill is really intended to create fear and insecurity,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of the Rights Working Group. “This decision sends Georgia lawmakers a strong message; that legislation shouldn’t be use to institutionalize discrimination and dehumanize immigrants and people of color.”

Rights Working Group remains concerned about some provisions of  H.B. 87 that will go into effect this Friday, such as the requirement that Georgia businesses use the flawed federal e-Verify system to determine whether new employees are eligible to work in the United States.

“Despite the remaining problems with H.B. 87, Rights Working Group, a coalition of more than 300 members organizations, applauds all the civil rights, human rights and immigrants rights groups for working tirelessly to fight against this odious bill and achieving a significant victory,” Huang said.

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Formed in the aftermath of September 11th, Rights Working Group is a national coalition of nearly 300 organizations from across the country representing civil liberties, national security, immigrant rights and human rights advocates.  RWG seeks to restore due process and human rights protections that have eroded since 9/11, ensuring that the rights of all people in the U.S. are respected regardless of citizenship or immigration status, race, national origin, religion or ethnicity.