Thread: IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: HARD REALITIES OF DEPORTATION

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: HARD REALITIES OF DEPORTATION
Crackdown in Cobb: Jail is holding more inmates longer as the Sheriff's Office sets a state precedent in checking whether suspects are in the U.S. illegally.

By Mary Lou Pickel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 11/11/07

Somewhere between the bonding window and the visitation desk at Cobb County's jail, the gravity of the situation hit Patricia Trujillo.

She had paid her husband's bond on charges of driving without a license and speeding.

Then a clerk handed her a yellow Post-it with a number for immigration enforcement.

Her husband faced possible deportation for overstaying his visa.

As the prospect sunk in, Trujillo's face distorted into a square-mouthed grimace of despair, the tears shooting from her eyes, dripping onto her black leather jacket.

Cobb's Hispanic population is learning the hard reality of heightened immigration enforcement at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

The new deportation program means more families wait at the jail to learn if a loved one will be released.

It means families don't know whether to pay bond on local charges if there is the chance a relative will be held anyway until the federal government deports him. Visits at the jail have been limited to one per week because of the volume of inmates, for an array of reasons.

On top of that, immigrant advocates say some inmates are held longer than permissible while the sheriff's staff decides whether to press immigration charges. They say Cobb County is targeting Latino immigrants in traffic stops.

But the new program appears to have repercussions for the jail as well.

Although Sheriff Neil Warren said the program isn't causing crowding, more inmates are held longer at an already crowded facility.

Three lawsuits were filed alleging prisoners were held longer than allowed. All were dismissed because prisoners were released on their own recognizance to face an immigration judge later.

"I think they got so many people, they don't know exactly what they're doing," said Chris Taylor, a partner with Hernan Taylor & Lee, the law firm that sued.

During one week in October, 477 people sat in jail facing possible deportation.

Of the 477, 326 were waiting for local charges to be satisfied first, either by paying bond or serving time, and 151 were ready to be picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The jail has a total population of about 2,800, about 200 more than in May. Annually it books 40,000 inmates.

Warren acknowledges the jail is crowded.

"Is it because of just immigration? No. It's because of the drugs and crime in our community," he said.

But Cobb has asked ICE to assign a federal officer to the jail seven days a week instead of five. At the same time, the sheriff has asked ICE to certify the facility as one that can hold prisoners for extended periods until ICE can pick them up.

Cobb is the only jail in Georgia to sign an agreement with the federal government to help enforce immigration laws as people are booked into jail. The Georgia Department of Public Safety, the Department of Driver's Services and a few GBI agents have taken federal training to enforce immigration laws.

Doranely Lopez, 22, learned about the jail's stricter visitation rules last week. Her husband, who has been in jail for three weeks on charges of driving without a license and running a light, faces deportation to Mexico. Lopez paid her husband's bond of $760 last month, but she didn't see him because she says she did not have the right ID to enter the jail.

"I just wanted to see him one last time," Lopez said. She returned this week to try again, bringing her 3-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen.

Jerry Gonzalez, an activist for immigrants' rights, said Warren is causing more problems than he is solving.

"They're inundating immigration with minor traffic violations instead of focusing on people who commit major crimes," said Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.

Not so, says Warren.

"A driver's license is important. It's to prove that you've been tested and you can drive a car," he said.

Many prisoners face charges far more serious, Warren said. At least 51 were held recently on charges for which there is no automatic bail, he said.

ICE has picked up immigrants charged with sexual battery, aggravated assault and possession of drugs, said Nancy Bodiford, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

The severity of the charges that trigger checks is part of what differentiates the Cobb-ICE arrangement. Georgia law requires all jailers to check the legal status of anyone held on felony charges or DUI. Cobb is checking anyone foreign born booked on any charge.

From the time bail is paid, the Sheriff's Office has 48 hours, or two business days, to serve a prisoner with immigration charges. During that time, one of 12 ICE-trained deputies must decide whether to let the prisoner go on his own recognizance to see an immigration judge later or whether to require another bond on the immigration charges. Or whether to refuse bond.

If the prisoner can't bond out, he stays in the jail until ICE picks him up. The sheriff expects to be reimbursed by the feds for the cost of housing these prisoners.

ICE approved the release of 44 inmates on their own recognizance the week of Oct 14, Warren said.

Five days after he was arrested, Trujillo's husband was released to appear before an immigration judge later.

The arrest made Trujillo rethink her life in the U.S.

"I'm not interested in the United States just to make money," she said. "I wanted to have a life here. I wanted to work and be tranquil.

"But how can it be peaceful if every day you go out and you worry about the police? It's not the same as living in your country, where you are free."


40,000
Number of inmates Cobb County Adult Detention Center books annually

2,800
Population of Cobb County Adult Detention Center

48 hours
Amount of time Sheriff's Office has to serve an inmate with immigration charges once bail is paid

477
Number of people who sat in jail facing possible deportation during one week in October

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printe ... 11111.html

[b]

Three lawsuits were filed alleging prisoners were held longer than allowed. All were dismissed because prisoners were released on their own recognizance to face an immigration judge later.

Still they let them go.....

I believe if they release them it is because it is their first arrest and they have a right to go before an immigration judge, but if they don't show up to court or if the show up and are ordered to self deport and do not, they are then felons and can be deported the second time they are arrested,

I believe this is how it works, correct me if it is wrong. Myself if believe they should be deported as soon as they are found to be here illegaly, and our constitution should not give them civil rights in this country, civil rights should be for citizens or people we allowed to enter legally.

"As the prospect sunk in, Trujillo's face distorted into a square-mouthed grimace of despair, the tears shooting from her eyes, dripping onto her black leather jacket. "

"I just wanted to see him one last time," Lopez said. She returned this week to try again, bringing her 3-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen. "

So why is she and her parasite child not going with him?


"Cobb is checking anyone foreign born booked on any charge"

More power to the sheriff. They should ALL be doing this.