ATLANTA — Five Georgia counties have applied to join a federal program that allows some deputies to perform some immigration enforcement activities, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The program, known as 287 (g), is backed by a Georgia state law that requires agencies to assist in immigration enforcement activities, according to the report. The state Department of Corrections and the Floyd, Hall, Oconee, Polk and Whitfield County sheriff’s offices all have active 287(g) agreements dating back to President Donald Trump’s first term in office, while sheriff’s offices in Monroe, Montgomery, Murray, Spalding and Walker counties recently applied to join the program.
“State law requires all law enforcement agencies to do this,” Anna Watkins, PIO for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Sheriffs who fail to comply with the law, known as HB 1105, are faced with misdemeanor criminal penalties and the loss of state grants, according to the report.
Participation in a 287(g) program largely involves using ICE databases to check a suspect’s immigration status after they have arrived at a jail or detention center. If a suspect is found to be in the country illegally, sheriff’s offices are authorized to hold the suspect for up to 48 hours, allowing ICE to pick up the suspect for deportation, according to the report.
To begin working with ICE, the deputies must undergo a month-long course with training on immigration law, using ICE data and avoiding racial profiling.
Like Georgia, Florida has enacted legislation requiring that local law enforcement formally cooperate with ICE, according to the report. Together, the two states make up more than half of local LE applications to participate in 287 (g).
