HB 1053: Law enforcement officers and agencies; local law enforcement involvement with immigration and cooperation with federal authorities; repeal provisions

Georgia currently has several laws that direct police and sheriffs to check a suspect's immigration status, honor federal immigration detainer requests, ban 'sanctuary' policies by local governments, and publish reports on foreign-born inmates, with penalties for local officials who do not comply. This bill would repeal nearly all of those requirements. In their place, the bill creates a new system requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to designate certifying officials who process requests from crime victims for immigration certification forms (used to apply for federal U and T visas, which protect victims of serious crimes and human trafficking). It sets strict deadlines for completing these forms, protects victims' immigration status from disclosure, grants immunity to officials acting in good faith, and lets the Attorney General investigate noncompliance. It also removes immigration status verification duties from jail booking procedures, repeals related misdemeanor penalties, and updates several other Code sections (in Titles 17, 36, 42, 45, and 50) to match these changes.

• Repeals O.C.G.A. § 35-1-17, which required local police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and authorized arrests based on immigration status alone.
• Creates a new certification process requiring law enforcement agencies to designate officials who complete federal visa certification forms for crime victims within set deadlines (as fast as 5 business days in urgent cases).
• Repeals the state ban on local 'sanctuary' policies (O.C.G.A. § 36-80-23) and removes penalties for local officials who limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
• Removes the requirement that police verify a suspect's immigration status during criminal investigations and citations (O.C.G.A. §§ 17-4-23, 17-5-100).
• Eliminates jail and prison reporting requirements on foreign-born inmates and compliance with federal immigration detainer notices (O.C.G.A. §§ 42-1-11.4, 42-1-11.5, 42-4-16).
• Gives the Attorney General authority to investigate agencies for failing to follow the new victim certification law and to seek court enforcement.

State and local law enforcement agencies, sheriffs, jailers, and prosecutors; crime victims seeking U or T visas and their attorneys or advocates; county governments previously subject to funding penalties; and the Attorney General's office, which gains new investigative duties.

Local police and jails would no longer be required to check immigration status or hold people for federal immigration authorities, and local governments could no longer be penalized for limiting such cooperation. Immigrant crime victims would gain a defined, faster path to obtain paperwork needed for federal visa applications.

• Section 1-1 repeals and replaces O.C.G.A. § 35-1-17, eliminating the 'cooperation with federal authorities' mandate and creating the victim certification system with 90 business day general deadlines and 21 or 5 business day expedited deadlines.
• Section 1-1 grants certifying agencies and officials immunity from civil or criminal liability for good-faith actions, except willful or wanton misconduct.
• Section 1-1 requires certifying agencies to file annual reports to the Attorney General on certification requests, without personal identifying information.
• Section 2-2 repeals O.C.G.A. § 17-5-100, ending the requirement that police verify a suspect's immigration status when investigating a crime.
• Section 2-3 repeals O.C.G.A. § 36-80-23, removing the ban on local 'sanctuary' policies and the misdemeanor penalties for violating it.
• Sections 2-4 through 2-7 repeal reporting requirements on foreign-born inmates and compliance with immigration detainer notices in county jails and state prisons.
• Section 2-8 revises the Attorney General's authority under O.C.G.A. § 45-15-10 to remove prosecution duties tied to the repealed sanctuary and detainer laws, keeping investigative authority over the new certification law.
• Section 2-9 updates the annual immigration compliance reporting law (O.C.G.A. § 50-36-4) to remove references to the repealed Code sections.

1. 2026-01-29House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-27House Hopper (House)

• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)Primary sponsor
• Ruwa Romman (D, HD-097)
• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)
• David Wilkerson (D, HD-038)
• Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)
• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)

• immigration enforcement
• local law enforcement
• sanctuary policies
• crime victim visas
• jail policy