Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

In Gwinnett County, a split on Trump immigration crackdown

091615 LAWRENCEVILLE: Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway holds a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Lawrenceville. Conway is an enthusiastic supporter of a program allowing local law enforcement agencies to check the immigration status of prisoners. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
091615 LAWRENCEVILLE: Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway holds a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Lawrenceville. Conway is an enthusiastic supporter of a program allowing local law enforcement agencies to check the immigration status of prisoners. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
By Christian Boone
March 28, 2017

Gwinnett's police department is unlikely to join President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.

But the county's jail is run by one of the program's more enthusiastic backers. Sheriff Butch Conway is already checking the immigration status of those who land behind bars in the diverse county.

His department is one of just a handful of agencies authorized to continue the program after it was suspended in 2014.

Gwinnett sheriff issues scathing statement: 'All lives matter'

Trump wants to expand the so-called 287 (g) program as he seeks to give local law enforcement a larger role in immigration enforcement.

The Gwinnett sheriff's office said it had questioned nearly 40,000 inmates about their immigration status and placed detainers for ICE on 13,346 people since 2009.

To learn more about the program and which metro Atlanta counties are participating read the full story at myajc.com

About the Author

A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.

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