GA: Immigration officials agree to release jailed students
Immigration officials agree to release jailed students
August 20, 2011
Devin Fehely
Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials made an abrupt about-face, agreeing to release two North Georgia students who had been locked away in a federal detention facility for two months while they awaited deportation.
Eighteen-year-old Luis "Ricky" Hernandez and 19-year-old Pedro Morales were arrested after separate traffic stops in Whitfield County in June.
The young men ended up in federal custody because they are in the country illegally, having been brought to the United States as young children by their parents.
"Ricky didn't choose to be brought into this country. But he's been here 16 years and he's done well for himself. And we've educated him," said his high school soccer coach Justin Timms.
The cases raised serious questions about how the country's immigration laws are being enforced and whether or not Immigration and Customs Enforcement was following its own policies.
In June, I.C.E. Director John Morton sent a memo to field offices across the country, instructing immigration officials to exercise "discretion" prioritizing deportation cases involving potential terrorists or known criminals.
Conversely, cases involving people brought to the United States as small children or who were pursuing higher education were supposed to received special consideration.
The Morton Memo as it's come to be known has sparked controversy among anti-immigration advocate. They claim it further waters down the already lax enforcement of existing immigration laws.
"These are not citizens -- no matter how well-mannered they might be," said D.A. King. "To blur the lines between illegal immigrants and citizens angers a lot of people, including me."
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