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Immigration front lines start inside county jails

By BRIAN FEAGANS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 08/07/06

In a back corner of the Gwinnett County Jail, near a concrete courtyard where inmates play volleyball, sits the county's front line of immigration enforcement.

The tiny room carries the label of the now-defunct "INS." It's actually one of four offices Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, operates out of county jails in Georgia. The arrangement — also in Cobb, DeKalb and Hall counties — is part of the federal agency's strategy for deporting the most dangerous criminals who are in the country illegally.

given those counties a jump start on statewide immigration reforms set to take effect in July 2007. Senate Bill 529, signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue in April, requires jails in Georgia to work more closely with federal immigration officials.

Traditionally, jailers have had vast leeway in deciding how aggressively to research a prisoner's immigration status or to report suspected illegal immigrants to ICE.

But under the new law, jail officials must make a reasonable effort to determine whether a detainee is in the country legally, if they're charged with felonies or driving under the influence. Illegal immigrants must be reported to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE. And if the jailers can't determine the detainee's legal status within 48 hours, they are required to seek assistance from Homeland Security.

In immigrant hubs such as Gwinnett County, much of that work already is being done. Behind the ICE office's gray door, an agent bellies up to a computer and pours through booking sheets of foreign-born detainees. The hunt is on for those who are either already wanted for deportation or charged with serious crimes that would make them prime candidates for expulsion from the United States down the road, said Kenneth Smith, agent in charge of ICE's office in Atlanta.

Smith said he's not sure when the system started, but officials in Gwinnett and DeKalb said immigration agents have been based there since at least the late 1990s.

ICE doesn't have the resources to deport illegal immigrants who have been charged with less serious crimes, Smith said. Murderers, rapists and members of violent street gangs take top priority. "Our focus is on the most dangerous element, the greatest public safety threat," Smith said.

As a result, illegal immigrants move in and out of jails in Georgia and the rest of the country without the threat of deportation. In fact, illegal immigrants incarcerated in the United States are arrested eight times on average, the U.S. General Accounting Office found in a 2005 study.

State Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), the chief sponsor of SB 529, said the new law is designed to bring more of the most serious cases to the attention of ICE, even if the agency doesn't have the staff to deport more people.

"The more [ICE] knows about people who are supposed to be deported," Rogers said, "the better job they can do at getting the worst of the worst off the street."

Not everyone believes that increasing local authorities' role is legal, however. Tisha Tallman, legal counsel for the Atlanta office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has said the group might challenge the law in court because some provisions pre-empt federal authority and are therefore unconstitutional. But Rogers says he's confident the law could withstand a court challenge.

Gwinnett County, home to the state's largest immigrant population, already helps ICE by determining each detainee's nationality and place of birth, said Capt. Laura Hicks.

It's no small task. Some 436 of the jail's 2,268 detainees were foreign-born as of last week, according to department records. That's roughly in line with Gwinnett's overall population, where one in five residents are immigrants, as well.

But under the new law, all Georgia jails will have to make a "reasonable effort" to determine not only the nationality of detainees but also their immigration status. "That's the hard part," said Gwinnett Sheriff R.L. "Butch" Conway.

Of course, Conway has the benefit of an in-house ICE agent. Most jails don't. So the Georgia Sheriffs' Association is supposed to issue guidelines next year to help them comply.

They aren't likely to welcome the extra work, said D.G. "Bill" Lemacks, the association's director of jail services. "Most jails are understaffed and overworked as it is," he said.