I.C.E. releases jailed North Georgia students

12:00 AM, Aug 25, 2011

Immigration and Customs Enforcement released two North Georgia students Tuesday night who were being held in a federal detention facility while they waited to be deported.

The decision to release Luis "Ricky" Hernandez and Pedro Morales is part of a controversial shift in immigration policy in which cases involving people brought to the United States as young children or who are pursuing college or advanced degrees would be given special consideration even if they are in the country illegally.

"I'm going to do my best. Go to school. Take another road," said Ricky Hernandez moments after walking out of the Stewart Detention Facility in South Georgia.

Ricky and Pedro were arrested in separate traffic stops by Whitfield County Sheriff's deputies in mid-June. They were transferred into federal custody after deputies discovered they were not in the country legally.

The young men, who were brought to the United States as small children, represent a challenging question for an immigration system already struggling with a backlog of more than 300-thousand people in federal custody for immigration violations.

However, opponents of illegal immigration say the new policy represent a de facto amnesty program, rewarding the people who've broken the rules by entering the country illegally.

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