'Lawmakers' Day 2: Senate passes first legislation of session; Democrats call to 'unmask ICE'

On Tuesday, lawmakers looked into state approaches to national immigration enforcement questions for Day 2. 

The Senate jumped to a quick start, passing the first bill of the session. 

Senate Bill 204 was originally a Democratic bill from 2025 that allowed certain nonviolent felonies to be charged by district attorneys without the involvement of a grand jury. 

But during last year's legislative session, the House gutted that bill and inserted language from Senate Bill 163, which would allow individual gun owners to bring legal action against local governments who they feel infringed on their Second Amendment rights by fining them or confiscating guns that owners left in their unlocked vehicles. However, the bill didn't get back to the Senate with the changes before the session ended. 

Sen. Colton Moore (R-Trenton), who authored SB 163, made his case for why the new version of the pro-gun rights bill should be adopted. 

"Right now, there are 41 Georgians in Savannah who were victims of a crime who are now been made criminals because some municipality like Savannah has passed gun legislation that is more stringent than what this General Assembly has already passed," Moore said. "It gives those preemptive powers to the citizenry. So any citizen can sue a place like Savannah, for violating their gun rights at a tune of $25,000 per occurrence. That puts teeth into it and they don't have to depend on some bureaucracy like our attorney general to take care of their rights."

But the Democratic senator who represents Savannah disagreed not only with the bill, but with the premise as well. 

"[The law] the city of Savannah has passed regulates the car and not the gun, and this has reduced gun thefts by over 30% in one year in the city of Savannah alone," Sen. Derek Mallow (D-Savannah) said. "The city overwhelmingly supports the Second Amendment, but they also believe that public safety is at risk when guns are stolen from unlocked cars."

The bill was adopted by Substitution 32 to 21 along party lines, but failed to garner the two-thirds majority needed to be sent to Gov. Brian Kemp immediately. 

Meanwhile, the House gaveled in and gavel out without passing any bills on Day 2, but the chamber gave special recognition to the Korean-American community in Georgia. 

At an afternoon press conference, Democratic lawmakers announced legislation affecting immigration enforcement. Senate Bill 389 would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to remove their masks while making arrests and to wear proper identification. 

"We have men who are unidentifiable, roaming our streets, snatching up people, and taking them," Sen. Kim Jackson (D-Stone Mountain) said. "And then they are able to commit crimes and hide because we don't even know their identity. So my bill will call for ICE agents to take off their masks, to show their face. We have men who show up in tactical equipment, but nothing that identifies them as federal agents. I don't know if they are a part of a vigilante group that's just deputized themselves to go and steal my friend, or if they're an agent of ICE. So my bill demands that they put on a badge, that they have something on them that tells us undeniably that they are federal agent. My friends, it's time to unmask ICE."

Democrats also proposed bills to allow civil lawsuits against ICE and require a warrant for arrests in schools, hospitals and churches. 

"When ICE overreaches, they need to face real accountability in courts of law," Jackson said. "But accountability is not necessarily justice. Because Renee Good will not get justice, and there's no way to give her justice. Real justice — making sure this never happens in the first place."

The legislation comes days after ICE officers in Minnesota fatally shot Good, a 37-year-old woman, but Republicans say the bills are unnecessary and lawmakers reacted too quickly to the Minnesota shooting. 

"As far as wearing of tactical gear, whether it be a mask, a helmet, or anything else, that is a decision made case by case, and the supervisors make those determinations," Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Catula) said. "Not a group of legislators sitting in an air-conditioned and heated room in the middle of Atlanta, Ga. That's the responsibility of law enforcement leaders to make that decision."

The Democrats also proposed a bill requiring National Guard deployment in Georgia to receive legislative approval. 

Also Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp and legislative leaders in the House and Senate gathered at the annual Faith and Freedom Coalition's legislative luncheon. 

On Wednesday, lawmakers start their day early at Georgia Chamber's annual Eggs and Issues legislative breakfast. There, they will hear from Kemp about his priorities for his last legislative session, as he term-limited and in his final year as governor.

GPB's Lawmakers returns for Day 3 on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. on GPB TV.