Jeanfromfillmore
02-12-2011, 12:00 AM
Counties will join with feds to battle illegal immigration
Pending legislation that would require Georgia employers to verify the citizenship of everyone they hire isn't the state's first effort to control illegal immigrants. By the end of 2012, every county in Georgia will join the Secure Communities Program, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiative that allows local law enforcement agencies to search a fingerprint database to find out if anyone they arrest is an illegal immigrant subject to deportation.
Eight Georgia counties already are enrolled, and the Barrow County Sheriff's Office is scheduled to become the ninth county Wednesday, followed by Walton and Newton counties.
"We're No. 9 out of 159 counties - that's not too bad," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said, who this week attended an ICE workshop about how the program links the county online with a federal fingerprint database.
Using the link, ICE can alert local authorities when the suspect they're booking into jail is in the country illegally and let the officer know if ICE agents plan to take the illegal immigrant.
By the end of 2012, all counties in Georgia are expected to be linked to the database, with nationwide coverage by 2013, according to ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez.
Illegal immigrants have been able "to fall through the cracks" by bonding out of jail before police discover their immigration status, Smith said - and sometimes by giving false information.
"They can give us a name, but fingerprints don't lie," Smith said.
The sheriff's office plans to train detention officers to use the program, said Smith, who estimated that over the past couple of years ICE has taken custody of 30 inmates from the Barrow County Jail.
The database allows police to identify illegal immigrants if they get arrested, but state legislators also are seeking a way to keep undocumented workers from taking jobs in Georgia.
A bill proposed by state Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, requires that businesses verify the legal status of new employees through a federal database called E-Verify, a free service offered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Last week, Ramsey told members of House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee that the most important aspect requires employers with more than five employees to verify the legal status of anyone they plan to hire.
Oconee County Chamber of Commerce President J.W. Whitfield said he basically supports the idea behind the bill. Violators could face fines or revocation of a business license.
"With the way the job situation is now, we need to put our people to work ... before we hire somebody that doesn't have the correct paperwork," Whitfield said.
While the Georgia General Assembly ponders state legislation, Congress is eager to implement the Secure Communities Program.
Last week, seven Georgia congressmen met with ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton to "demand swifter implementation" of the program throughout Georgia, according to a statement from U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens.
"They believe the process needs to be expedited," said Broun's press secretary Jessica Morris. "Georgia is ranked seventh in the nation - even higher than Arizona for having a high population of illegal immigrants."
However, Morris said that Morton told the congressmen that a lack of resources is keeping ICE from being able to expedite full implementation of the program this year.
ICE plans to add 48 more Georgia counties to the program this year, including Clarke and Jackson counties, she said.
According to figures released by ICE, Oconee County will join Secure Communities in 2012, but in 2007 Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry applied to participate in ICE's so-called 287(g) program.
Under 287(g), a county can help ICE enforce immigration law but must "hire more officers who are then cross-trained as customs officers with the authority to enforce U.S. Customs law." Only four counties in Georgia and 71 nationwide have 287(g) agreements with ICE.
Oconee never became a 287(g) agency, but the sheriff's office works closely with the federal agency and notifies ICE if deputies arrest someone who is in the country illegally.
A couple of years ago, deputies were booking three or four illegals a week, but "now we're booking one a month. ... We're down significantly in numbers. I think a lot of our criminal aliens got the idea that since we'll deport you, they left," Berry said.
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/021211/new_784421983.shtml
Pending legislation that would require Georgia employers to verify the citizenship of everyone they hire isn't the state's first effort to control illegal immigrants. By the end of 2012, every county in Georgia will join the Secure Communities Program, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiative that allows local law enforcement agencies to search a fingerprint database to find out if anyone they arrest is an illegal immigrant subject to deportation.
Eight Georgia counties already are enrolled, and the Barrow County Sheriff's Office is scheduled to become the ninth county Wednesday, followed by Walton and Newton counties.
"We're No. 9 out of 159 counties - that's not too bad," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said, who this week attended an ICE workshop about how the program links the county online with a federal fingerprint database.
Using the link, ICE can alert local authorities when the suspect they're booking into jail is in the country illegally and let the officer know if ICE agents plan to take the illegal immigrant.
By the end of 2012, all counties in Georgia are expected to be linked to the database, with nationwide coverage by 2013, according to ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez.
Illegal immigrants have been able "to fall through the cracks" by bonding out of jail before police discover their immigration status, Smith said - and sometimes by giving false information.
"They can give us a name, but fingerprints don't lie," Smith said.
The sheriff's office plans to train detention officers to use the program, said Smith, who estimated that over the past couple of years ICE has taken custody of 30 inmates from the Barrow County Jail.
The database allows police to identify illegal immigrants if they get arrested, but state legislators also are seeking a way to keep undocumented workers from taking jobs in Georgia.
A bill proposed by state Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, requires that businesses verify the legal status of new employees through a federal database called E-Verify, a free service offered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Last week, Ramsey told members of House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee that the most important aspect requires employers with more than five employees to verify the legal status of anyone they plan to hire.
Oconee County Chamber of Commerce President J.W. Whitfield said he basically supports the idea behind the bill. Violators could face fines or revocation of a business license.
"With the way the job situation is now, we need to put our people to work ... before we hire somebody that doesn't have the correct paperwork," Whitfield said.
While the Georgia General Assembly ponders state legislation, Congress is eager to implement the Secure Communities Program.
Last week, seven Georgia congressmen met with ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton to "demand swifter implementation" of the program throughout Georgia, according to a statement from U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens.
"They believe the process needs to be expedited," said Broun's press secretary Jessica Morris. "Georgia is ranked seventh in the nation - even higher than Arizona for having a high population of illegal immigrants."
However, Morris said that Morton told the congressmen that a lack of resources is keeping ICE from being able to expedite full implementation of the program this year.
ICE plans to add 48 more Georgia counties to the program this year, including Clarke and Jackson counties, she said.
According to figures released by ICE, Oconee County will join Secure Communities in 2012, but in 2007 Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry applied to participate in ICE's so-called 287(g) program.
Under 287(g), a county can help ICE enforce immigration law but must "hire more officers who are then cross-trained as customs officers with the authority to enforce U.S. Customs law." Only four counties in Georgia and 71 nationwide have 287(g) agreements with ICE.
Oconee never became a 287(g) agency, but the sheriff's office works closely with the federal agency and notifies ICE if deputies arrest someone who is in the country illegally.
A couple of years ago, deputies were booking three or four illegals a week, but "now we're booking one a month. ... We're down significantly in numbers. I think a lot of our criminal aliens got the idea that since we'll deport you, they left," Berry said.
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/021211/new_784421983.shtml