JURIST - Paper Chase: Georgia legislature presses measures aimed against illegal immigrants

[JURIST] The Georgia General Assembly [official website] is set to consider a bill [text] passed by the state Senate last week requiring state residents to acquire a valid state driver's license and confirm they are legally present in the US before they can register their automobiles. The Senate bill, sponsored by State Sen. Chip Rogers (R-GA) [profile, PDF], was one of several that have been introduced to the Senate to combat illegal immigration [JURIST news archive], nearly ten months after Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue [official website] signed into law [JURIST report] the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act [text] in April 2006. The Act will deny illegal aliens many of the state's taxpayer-funded services when most of its provisions become effective on July 1, 2007. AP has more.

Last September, Georgia State Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. issued a ruling [text, PDF; JURIST report] opposing the state's controversial voter ID law [JURIST news archive; GA Department of Driver Services information], also partly aimed against illegal aliens, because it was not required under the Georgia constitution [text] and could disenfranchise otherwise qualified voters.

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