Nathan Deal, the Governor of Georgia, is reviewing an immigration bill passed by the state legislature and said he plans to sign the measure, which is modeled after a controversial law passed in Arizona that could result in deportations of undocumented residents.

Atlanta and the state of Georgia, which have played hosts to the Olympics, the Final Four, the Major League All-Star Game, the NHL All-Star Game, and the Super Bowl, could be explaining themselves in front of bid committees in the next few years and find doors closing. If made law, HB87 would allow police to check the immigration status of suspects, even in routine traffic stops.

"Any time you do something like this there are the intended consequences, and you have unintended consequences and the unintended consequences in this case are worse," said Bob Hope, a public relations executive here who is on the board of the Atlanta Sports Council, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Women's Sports Foundation. "It presents us as a bigoted city, or a bigoted state. Nationally, people can easily look at the bill and say there are uncomfortable issues relative to coming to Atlanta and Georgia. It hurts."

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