“Cobb and Gwinnett are the only counties in metro Atlanta that participate in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program known as 287(g). Hall and Whitfield counties and the Georgia Department of Public Safety also participate. The program trains deputies to perform some of the functions of an immigration officer and enables them to screen jail inmates to determine their immigration status. Inmates who are in the country illegally are handed over to ICE to start deportation proceedings.

Motorists who face a misdemeanor charge for driving without a license on a first offense in Georgia risk being deported if they are caught in a county that participates in 287(g). Illegal immigrants can’t qualify for a driver’s license in Georgia.

Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway said that since his county joined the program in November 2009, only about 1,498 people have been jailed for driving without a license (through May 21). During the same time frame the previous year, about 3,530 people were jailed for unlicensed driving.

“I would have to credit 287(g) with that drop,” Conway said on Friday, adding that he believes the roads are now safer. “There are increased repercussions to being arrested.”

Unlicensed driving arrests down in Cobb, Gwinnett

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Cobb and Gwinnett are the only counties in metro Atlanta that participate in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program known as 287(g). …

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