Judge strikes down section of Ga. immigration law

ATLANTA - A federal judge has struck down a section of a 2011 Georgia law targeting people who knowingly harbor or transport an illegal immigrant.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash on Wednesday issued an order to eliminate that section of the law because it's pre-empted by federal law. He also ordered the state to inform a number of state agencies that would have been involved in the enforcement of that provision of his decision.

Omar Jadwat is a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who is involved in the challenge to Georgia's 2011 law. He says this marks a victory because Thrash is the first federal judge to permanently strike down the harboring and transporting provision of a state law targeting illegal immigration.