State lawmakers took up immigration laws at the state capitol Thursday. The new committee is tasked with strengthening Georgia’s immigration policies.

How to check the citizenship of college students and how local districts are enforcing federal law were some issues brought before the committee Thursday, as well as Arizona’s strict immigration law that’s now being contested in the courts.

Senator Jack Murphy who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Immigration Reform says Georgia, however, will come up with its own law.

“We don’t know how it will affect the Arizona law or look like the Arizona law but it could; I mean there’s obviously going to be some of the same language in there,”says Murphy.

Arizona’s law requires police to lock up anyone they stop who can’t show proof they’re in the country legally.

Murphy says the biggest problem with illegal immigration in Georgia is its drain on taxpayer money.

The group will meet next month to focus on how illegal immigration affects education.

Tags: immigration reform, ice, joint committee on immigration reform, immigration policy, Georgia immigration