Say Anything Blog

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on a recent action taken by country commissioners of suburban Gwinnett County, Georgia.

The Gwinnett County Commission approved funding Tuesday to begin screening for illegal immigrants entering the county’s jail.

The program, called 287(g) after the section of the federal immigration law that authorizes it, is expected to detect thousands of illegal immigrants a year and turn them over to federal officials for deportation, Sheriff Butch Conway said.

The program could begin as early as October under terms of a resolution approved unanimously by the commission after a tense discussion.

The resolution gives Conway the 18 positions he said he needed to begin the program, but requires that he trim vacancies in the department to 12 and have deputies enrolled in the training course for the federal immigration program before the positions are authorized. The department currently has nearly 40 openings.

“We’re ready to go,” Conway said. “I just needed the commitment, and I wasn’t getting that until today.”

The program has become a political issue between Commission Chairman Charles Bannister and Commissioner Lorraine Green, who has announced plans to challenge him in the July Republican primary.

Bannister has urged a cautious approach to the immigration program, saying he supports it but that the county’s budget is in a fragile state and that he would prefer to allocate money as the need arises.

The day’s debate began on a motion he introduced calling for consideration of new deputies as needed.

Green urged a more rapid approach, saying having the county help overwhelmed federal officials enforce immigration law is a top priority of residents. She sponsored a resolution in place of Bannister’s — which the board eventually adopted — promising funding for the program this year.

“I think the public is tired of crawling,” she said. “They want to run.”

Tired of crawling, indeed!  Of the nearly 39,000 arrestees held at the Gwinnett Country Detention Center during last year, over 12,000… nearly one third… were illegal aliens, according to Sheriff Conway.

More information on the local/federal partnership detailed in Section 287 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act can be found here.