The City of Decatur recently passed an ordinance restricting compliance with ICE detention retainer requests thereby declaring itself a sanctuary city. Unfortunately, Decatur’s ordinance is still legal under Georgia law. Attempting to woo voters, Campaign Casey has sent Decatur a letter that is filled with soundbites, but does not address the real issue. Without statewide implementation of the 287(g) deportation program, most, if not all illegal immigrants will slip through the system.
Michael Williams said, “Sanctuary cities such as Decatur should be illegal under Georgia law. They are using a loophole to avoid deporting illegals through ICE. Campaign Casey obviously does not understand Georgia’s sanctuary city laws – or better yet, the lack of Georgia’s sanctuary city laws. I’m calling on Casey to join me in supporting statewide implementation of the 287(g) deportation program. This would remove the loophole being used by Decatur. If Decatur refuses participation in the 287(g) program, state funding can be immediately removed. This is a real solution that would result in thousands of deportations from Georgia. Instead of focusing on changes that will actually deport illegals, Campaign Casey is pulling ill-informed political stunts to grab attention. This is what happens when a career politician from the establishment attempts to appeal to conservatives. They are weak on substance and are dependent on soundbites from consultants.”
287(g) is an ICE initiative that allows state or local law enforcement entities to enter into a partnership with the agency. Law enforcement entities partnering with ICE receive authority for immigration enforcement within their jurisdiction. This allows for all arrested individuals to be checked for immigration status when admitted to jail. Without this, local law enforcement will not know the legal status of any arrested individual. Currently, only four counties are in a 287(g) partnership with ICE: Cobb, Gwinnett, Hall, and Whitfield.
“Statewide implementation of 287(g) would notify ICE of any illegal arrested within Georgia resulting in a detention retainer request. Any jurisdiction refusing to comply with the ICE request would have state funds withheld under a Williams administration until that jurisdiction complies,” continued Williams. “The safety of our citizens should not be used in campaign stunts by career politicians like Campaign Casey. He has been shaping immigration laws for 24 years as an elected official, yet sanctuary cities are thriving in Georgia and are still receiving state funding.”
“When establishment candidates pretend to be conservative, they embarrass themselves due to lack of understand of what it means to actually be a conservative. Campaign Casey should read up on Georgia law and listen to actual conservatives before he embarrasses himself again,” added Williams.
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