Law enforcement officials in Cobb, Gwinnett, Hall and Whitfield counties will continue to help enforce federal immigration laws through a controversial program in their local jails for at least six more months.
The Obama administration confirmed Monday that it had extended agreements allowing officials in those four counties to continue participating in the federal 287(g) program until June 30. Thirty-five such programs are operating in other states.
The 287(g) program — named after the federal law that authorizes it — gives police the power to question people about their legal status, serve arrest warrants, and detain and transport criminals for immigration violations.
Last month, the federal government announced it was scrapping the “task force” part of the program in which police — including Georgia state police — helped with street-level immigration enforcement. The Georgia Department of Public Safety’s 287(g) program ended last month.
The government partly tied the decision to the national rollout of a different enforcement program called Secure Communities. U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement said Secure Communities, which relies on fingerprint checks, and other enforcement programs are “a more efficient use of resources for focusing on priority cases.”
Since fiscal year 2006, 16,287 people have been deported or allowed to voluntarily leave the country in connection with Georgia’s 287(g) programs, federal records show.
Civil and immigrant rights groups have called on the Obama administration to shut down all the 287(g) programs nationwide. They say they distract police from more important crime-fighting duties and promote racial profiling. Supporters of 287(g) say the programs help reduce the burden illegal immigrants place on public schools and other taxpayer-funded resources.
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