Roswell seeks immigration enforcement powers

By Andria Simmons

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For the third time since 2006, the Roswell Police Department is seeking to join a federal partnership that would grant its officers certain immigration enforcement powers.

The federal program, known as 287(g), allows officers to screen inmates to determine if they are in the country illegally. Inmates suspected of being illegal immigrants are then handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for potential deportation after their local charges are disposed of.

About a third of the inmates jailed in Roswell's 55-bed facility last year were foreign-born and could not provide a Social Security number, Roswell Police Chief Ed Williams said.

Williams said past efforts to join 287(g) in 2006 and 2008 failed because ICE has limited resources and prefers to partner with larger police forces. Four sheriff's departments in the state currently participate -- Cobb, Gwinnett, Hall and Whitfield counties -- along with the Georgia Department of Public Safety.

That hasn't stopped Williams from repeating his request.

"There is one sure way of not getting it, and that is to not apply," Williams said.

The move is not surprising, coming from a chief who has for the past decade sent a daily fax to ICE listing inmates suspected of being in the country illegally. Williams said citizens are concerned about crime that may be resulting from illegal immigration.

Mayor Jere Wood said residents often ask him why the city is doing nothing to deal with illegal immigrants.

"I've explained to them that the federal government hasn't given us the authority to do that," Wood said. "I explain to them that we have no options."

City Council member Nancy Diamond said the council voted unanimously last month to approve the police department's application, even though "I think everybody recognizes it's a long shot."

The 287(g) program is touted as a way to improve safety by helping communities deport illegal immigrants who are criminals. Pro-immigrant groups and civil rights organizations have criticized the program, saying it leads to racial profiling and creates distrust of police within the Latino community.

"Being concerned about crime, we would want law enforcement to spend their time enforcing the laws they were hired to enforce, not federal immigration laws," said the Rev. Tracy Blagec, spokeswoman for a coalition of churches and community organizations called Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment.

Lee Fleck, a Roswell resident and former City Council candidate who supports 287(g), said he has little hope of Roswell being approved. Fleck said he hopes that the Fulton County Sheriff's Department will one day apply for the program, since it might have a better shot as a larger law enforcement agency. That might help stop illegal immigrants from coming and going through the "revolving door" of the city and county jails, Fleck said.

Fulton County sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said that is unlikely, since only about 2 percent of the inmates the department encounters are suspected of being in the country illegally. The department already notifies ICE about those inmates, she said.

The 287(g) program "would not justify the cost and the resources to participate at this time," Flanagan said.