Civil Rights & Immigration
ACLU to argue against anti-abortion law in Atlanta federal court today
Oral arguments in a lawsuit seeking to stop a controversial law banning most abortions in Georgia from being implemented start Monday morning in federal court in Atlanta. The law, which would prohibit nearly all abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, would take effect on Jan. 1 without a preliminary injunction. A host of abortion […]
Dalton ‘Dreamer’ hopes court ruling lets him stay in adopted hometown
September marks not only the start of football season, but the start of the school year for many Georgians. Students from all walks of life will show up to their classrooms and lecture halls during this time. I’m one of those students, having recently started another year at Dalton State College. The beginning of September […]
ICE plans to build housing replica at Ft. Benning for urban combat training
A poorly redacted document has revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to build a “hyper realistic” depiction of a “city in Arizona” so it can better train its officers for “combat” in urban settings. The document, which originally revealed the location of the agency’s future “urban warfare” training facility and was first reported by Newsweek, […]
‘Dreamers’ in limbo for two years now eye fall U.S. Supreme Court review
Christian Olvera remembers racing with his brother, Bernie, to see if the mailbox at their Dalton home held the papers that conferred a sense of stability. After completing reams of forms and waiting for months as teenagers in 2012, they were giddy with anticipation for the “magical documents” that would give them legal rights to […]
Fear of Trump rules could spur Ga. residents to drop health, housing aid
When the Trump administration first proposed a rule last year to prevent poor immigrants from staying in the United States, advocacy groups in Georgia excoriated the plan. An Atlanta-based education group warned that it would hinder children from getting access to quality medical care and nutritious food. A reproductive rights group cautioned that the rule […]
Poultry workers fled Gainesville plants last week amid rumors of ICE raids
Rumors of a roundup by federal immigration authorities at poultry plants in Gainesville late last week sent scores of workers fleeing their jobs and caused a brief panic in an already worried community, according to local Latino advocates. “Hundreds” of poultry-processing employees rushed from several plant sites where they worked after hearing Thursday morning that […]
Feds shelve plans to house migrant children in SW metro Atlanta
Plans to open a facility in Atlanta to house about 500 migrant children who enter the United States without parents or legal guardians have been shelved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to Georgia state Sen. Mike Dugan’s office. The agency “is no longer moving forward” with its search for a […]
ICE audits of Georgia businesses spike this summer
Businesses in Georgia and across the country are receiving more scrutiny to determine if they employ undocumented workers, according to local immigration attorneys and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials. More than 100 federal audit subpoenas were sent this year through July 22 to businesses in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, said Lindsay […]
State senator breaks with his crowd on immigration
Amid a tense political climate surrounding immigration, a conservative north Georgia lawmaker offered glowing words about his Latino constituents during an event Tuesday in Atlanta celebrating an immigrant-rights and prison reform lobbying group. Speaking at a lunch at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, state Sen. Chuck Payne (R-Dalton) touted the diverse makeup of the 54th […]
Hice profile rises with immigration spat, Atlanta conference
A Georgia congressman’s recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border prompted a social media spat with a high-profile House of Representative colleague last week over sanitary conditions at migrant detention centers. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Monroe), who represents a broad stretch of rural Georgia from north of Atlanta to Augusta, published a video on July 29, in […]