WHAT THE 11TH CIRCUIT DECISION IN ALABAMA'S HB56 MEANS FOR GEORGIA'S HB87

The 11th Circuit's ruling in the Alabama HB56 battle may shed light into how the court of appeals will handle the Georgia HB87 anti-immigration law appeal.
Last week, the 11th Circuit issued an injunction against part of Alabama's HB56 and did not issue the injunction against other parts of the Alabama law, most notably the part that requires police to determine the immigration status of suspects they believe are illegally in the country. The court did not say how it came to this decision, the decision just listed the blocked sections.
Georgia's HB87 has similar provisions on police checking immigration status of suspects. It is worrisome that the 11th Circuit did not block that section, because that may possibly mean that this provision in the Georgia law will eventually be allowed to go through. However, the court’s ruling is preliminary and not binding, and was only given as part of a temporary injunction, which has a higher threshold than an appeal. The court could issue a different decision when it finally rules on the appeal. We'll have to wait and see.