For those who may have missed the news, Governor Perdue has begun the process of having about fifteeen State Troopers trained to enforce American immigration law under the 287 (g) provisions of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act.

Here is an AJC report:
State troopers may enforce federal laws
Mary Lou Pickel – Staff
Tuesday, July 18, 2006

About a dozen state troopers could be trained to enforce immigration laws in Georgia as the state moves toward implementing an immigration reform bill passed in the spring.

“It’s not like we’re going to be out there as a branch of the federal government,” Georgia Department of Public Safety spokesman Gordy Wright said. “But the trooper who does encounter an immigration problem during a traffic stop would have the power to take action.”

An agreement for local officers to enforce federal immigration laws is one of the provisions called for in Senate Bill 529, the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act sponsored by Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) and signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue in April.

Col. Bill Hitchens, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, has met with Ken Smith, special agent in charge of investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Atlanta, to talk about how his troopers will be trained to enforce such laws. Right now, only state troopers are under consideration.

Hitchens would like to start with 12 to 15 troopers statewide in the department’s interdiction unit. Those troopers work drug cases and are equipped with small electronic devices that can translate questions into several languages during a traffic stop, he said.

Read the rest of the AJC report here.

Thank you Governor Perdue!