Thread: GA-287(g) stats: Most foreign-born inmates here illegally

Updated: 10:50 AM Jan 27, 2010

287(g) stats: Most foreign-born inmates here illegally

LAWRENCEVILLE — On Tuesday, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department released crime statistics associated with the recently implemented 287(g) program, including charges against, and nationalities of, detainees.

Posted: 7:36 PM Jan 26, 2010
Reporter: Heath Hamacher, Staff Writer
Email Address: heath.hamacher@gwinnettdailypost.com


Story 27 Comments Font Size: LAWRENCEVILLE — On Tuesday, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department released crime statistics associated with the recently implemented 287(g) program, including charges against, and nationalities of, detainees.

As a direct result of the program, there are 996 charges pending against 464 defendants that deputies have screened and determined to be here illegally.

Prior to 287(g), which began on Nov. 16, 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had already placed 53 detainers on inmates at the Gwinnett County Jail, bringing the total number of immigration holds to 523.

Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Stacey Bourbonnais said statistics show that 62 percent of the jail’s foreign-born population is here illegally.

According to those statistics, 285 of the 464 287(g) detainers have been placed on illegal immigrants from Mexico, far more than Honduras, 50, Guatemala, 37, and El Salvador, 25.

Other detainees are from Africa (4), Cuba (3) and Brazil (2). The remaining 58 detainers fall in the “otherâ€

[quote]“Law enforcement seems to be continuing with business as usual, rounding up Latinos, predominantly, or other foreign-born looking individuals, via traffic stops, and then checking their status once they are in the jail,â€

[quote]
The Rev. Tracy Blagec, of Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment, has staunchly opposed the program from the beginning and believes that 287(g) was intended to target “serious criminal offenses,â€