Some South Cobbers 'Encouraged' by Judge's Ruling on Immigration Law

A federal judge in Atlanta halted two of the most controversial provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011 t pending the outcome of a lawsuit citing the legislation as unconstitutional, according to several news outlets, including the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The legislation is to become law on Friday.

The judge, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash, paused the provisions, one which would give law enforcement officials the power to stop suspicious persons and request documentation of citizenship and another that would punish people who knowingly gave rides to or harbored undocumented individuals.

Rich Pellegrino, , was one of many to oppose the legislation. Students from local high schools,

The Immigrants' Rights Project Director of the ACLU of Georgia, appeared at town hall meeting in Mableton. The lawsuit states that the legislation is unconstitutional because it interferes with federal enforcement, encourages racial profiling and lead to Fourth Amendment violations, Shahshahani said.

“This is an important victory for all Georgians that care about our civil liberties and don’t want Georgia to turn into a show-your-papers police state,” Shahshahani told South Cobb Patch on Monday afternoon. “The judge blocked the core provisions of the law, including the show me your paper provision and the parts that would criminalize hospitality.”

According to the AJC, Republican state Attorney General Sam Olens said in a statement issued Monday that his office would appeal the judge’s decision.

However, Shahshahani said, “At some point, there will be a hearing on the lawsuit or hearing of the complaint. As far as appeals, that remains to be seen.”

Pellegrino, an outspoken South Cobb opponent of the legislation, said, “We’re encouraged by [the ruling.] Of course, we would’ve hoped the whole bill would’ve been stopped, but we’ll take what we can get…we knew it was unconstitutional. They knew it was unconstitutional, but they still went ahead with it at the expense of the taxpayers…We want to get the whole law wiped off the books in Georgia.”

He said the law is a diversion from “real issues” such as “jobs, the economy and crime in the community” and that without it, “the state and America will learn to work together to solve the real issues instead of targeting and scape-goating any population, especially immigrants.”