ATLANTA – Jailers in Georgia must now check the immigration status of inmates and apply to help enforce federal immigration law, under a bill that gained traction after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of Georgia campus.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law Wednesday at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. Most provisions take effect immediately.

The Republican governor signed a separate law that requires cash bail for 30 additional crimes and restricts people and charitable bail funds from posting cash bonds for more than three people a year unless they meet the requirements to become a bail bond company. That law takes effect July 1.

Kemp said Wednesday that the immigration bill, House Bill 1105, “became one of our top priorities following the senseless death of Laken Riley at the hands of someone in this country illegally who had already been arrested even after crossing the border.”

Jose Ibarra was arrested on murder and assault charges in the death of 22-year-old Laken Riley. Immigration authorities say Ibarra, 26, unlawfully crossed into the United States in 2022. It is unclear whether he has applied for asylum. Riley’s killing set off a political storm as conservatives used the case to blame President Joe Biden for immigration failings.

“If you enter our country illegally and proceed to commit further crimes in our communities, we will not allow your crimes to go unanswered,” Kemp said.

Opponents warn the law will turn local law enforcement into immigration police, making immigrants less willing to report crime and work with officers. Opponents also point to studies showing immigrants are less likely than native-born Americans to commit crimes.

The law lays out specific requirements for how jail officials should check with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to determine whether prisoners are known to be in the country illegally. Georgia law previously only encouraged jailers to do so, but the new law makes it a misdemeanor to “knowingly and willfully” fail to check immigration status. The bill would also deny state funding to local governments that don’t cooperate.

The law also mandates that local jails apply for what is known as a 287(g) agreement with ICE to let local jailers help enforce immigration law. It is unclear how many would be accepted because President Joe Biden’s administration has de-emphasized the program. The program doesn’t empower local law enforcement to make immigration-specific arrests outside a jail.

Republicans said Senate Bill 63, requiring cash bail, is needed to keep criminals locked up, even though it erodes changes that Republican Gov. Nathan Deal championed in 2018 to allow judges to release most people accused of misdemeanors without bail.

“Too many times we have seen some of our cities or counties, it’s been a revolving door with criminals,” Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said.

Supporters said judges would still have the discretion to set very low bails. A separate part of the 2018 reform requiring judges to consider someone’s ability to pay would still remain law.

But the move could strand poor defendants in jail when accused of crimes for which they are unlikely to ever go to prison and aggravate overcrowding in Georgia’s county lockups.

It’s part of a push by Republicans nationwide to increase reliance on cash bail, even as some Democratic-led jurisdictions end cash bail entirely or dramatically restrict its use. That split was exemplified last year when a court upheld Illinois’ plan to abolish cash bail, while voters in Wisconsin approved an amendment to the constitution letting judges consider someone’s past convictions for violent crimes before setting bail.

A former Florida State Seminole turned NFL player made some pretty interesting comments as to why there were so many opt-outs in the 2024 Orange Bowl

The Georgia Bulldogs’ most recent college football matchup was a historic defeat of the Florida State Seminoles in the 2024 Orange Bowl. The Dawgs dominated in a 63-3 victory to close out their season with a 13-1 record and hand the Seminoles their first and only loss of the 2023 season. 

While the victory was indeed a historic beatdown, revisionists claim that the Dawgs’ dominance should not be legitimately recognized due to the number of opt-outs Florida State had heading into the game. The Noles’ opt-outs were a result of the 13-0 team before being snubbed by the college football playoff committee and left out of the 4-team tournament.

In the aftermath of the controversial exclusion and historic victory, one former Nole has spoken out and blamed the Bulldogs for the reason so many Florida State players opted out of the Orange Bowl game. Former Florida State and newly drafted Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman claims that had Georgia won their game against Alabama in the SEC Championship, Florida State would not have any opt-outs.

“If you [Georgia] would have won, you would’ve found out who’s better between Florida State and Georgia.” Said Coleman. “You would’ve played us in the ‘matter bowl’, the bowl that mattered. We aren’t gonna play in the bowl that doesn’t matter, that’s a waste of time. But if y’all would have won and did what y’all were supposed to do, you would’ve had to see us.” 

Many believe that Georgia’s loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship was inadvertently the reason that both the Bulldogs and Seminoles were left out of the College Football Playoff, given that the loss propelled Alabama into the fourth playoff spot. While Georgia may have some responsibility in the Seminoles’ opt-outs, it’s hard to imagine that Florida State’s starters would have made a 60-point difference in the game. 

Georgia Bulldogs 2024 Football Schedule

• Aug. 31 – vs Clemson (Atlanta, Ga.)
• Sept. 7 – vs Tennessee Tech
• Sept. 14 – @ Kentucky
• Sept. 21 – BYE
• Sept. 28 @ Alabama
• Oct. 5 – vs Auburn
• Oct. 12 – vs Mississippi State
• Oct. 19 – @ Texas
• Oct. 26 – BYE
• Nov. 2 – vs Florida (Jacksonville, Fl.)
• Nov. 9 – @ Ole Miss
• Nov. 16 – vs Tennessee
• Nov. 23 vs UMass
• Nov. 30 vs Georgia Tech

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Police in Georgia’s capital have used water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades against crowds outside the country’s parliament protesting against a bill the opposition says aims to crack down on press freedoms.

The legislation being debated by parliamentarians will require media and non-commercial organisations to register as being under foreign influence if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the streets of Tbilisi on Tuesday to oppose the legislation.

Clashes erupted between security forces and protesters as they faced tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades.

Reuters eyewitnesses saw some police officers physically attack protesters, who threw eggs and bottles at them, before deploying the tactics to force crowds from outside the parliament building, the news agency reported.

After being dispersed, thousands continued to block Tbilisi’s main Rustaveli Avenue, barricading it with cafe tables and rubbish bins. Some shouted “slaves” and “Russians” at police.

Levan Khabeishvili, the leader of Georgia‘s largest opposition party, the United National Movement, posted an image on X with his face bloodied and sporting a black eye.

A party official told Reuters that Mr Khabeishvili was beaten by police after disappearing from central Tbilisi.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is opposed to the bill and whose powers are mostly ceremonial, said in a post on X the crackdown had been “totally unwarranted, unprovoked and out of proportion” and that the protests had been peaceful.

The bill has heightened political divisions, setting the ruling Georgian Dream party against a protest movement backed by opposition groups, communities, celebrities and the figurehead president.

It is viewed by the opposition as authoritarian and bearing a resemblance to Russian anti-independent media legislation.

Critics have labelled the divisive bill “the Russian law”, comparing it to Moscow’s “foreign agent” legislation which has been used to crack down on dissent there.

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Parliament endorsed the bill in the first reading earlier this month. It must pass two more readings before becoming law.

Those opposed to the legislation see it as an impediment to Georgia’s long-sought prospects of joining the European Union.

EU officials have said it could halt Georgia’s progress towards integration with the bloc.