Local Police May Have Power To Deport
Critics Say Program Costs Too Much

POSTED: 2:45 pm EDT March 23, 2009
UPDATED: 9:23 pm EDT March 23, 2009


ATLANTA -- The issue of how to deal with illegal, undocumented workers is causing controversy around metro Atlanta, especially in Gwinnett County where sheriff's deputies are now trained in detaining and deporting illegal immigrants.

Some people are wondering if this is the right way to spend taxpayer money.

Officials want to give deputies at the Gwinnett County Jail the power to flag down illegal immigrants who’ve committed crimes and start the deportation process.

But immigration advocates say that’ll target honest hard working people as well.

Maria Martinez is a mother of two children, 14-year-old Miledy and 10-year- old Hector.

Both were born in Gwinnett County and go to school here, but if Martinez is deported back to Mexico, her kids would go with her and, she said, face a tough road in a land where crime has grown too violent.

“I’m really very scared for my children,â€