Gwinnett Sheriff Lauds Success of 287G

30 Dec 2009

Reported by Justin Gray | Edited by Jim Greene

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (MyFOX Atlanta) – The word appears to be getting out in Gwinnett County: If you’re an illegal immigrant, don’t get arrested. Because if you do, you could be shipped out of the United States.

The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department has fewer inmates in its jail than at any other time in Sheriff Butch Conway’s 13 years on the job.

He attributed the drop to a decrease in foreign-born inmates in the six weeks that the county has been part of the 287 (g) program, which allows local law enforcement agencies to team with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to fight crime in their communities and conduct immigration investigations.

In the span of Nov. 16 to Dec. 30, 2008, Gwinnett had 1,929 foreign-born inmates booked into the jail. Over the same span this year, the county’s foreign-born inmate population is 1,307 — a decrease of 622.

“The 287(g) program is working like we thought it would,” Sheriff Butch Conway said. “We expected after a period of time to see our foreign-born booking numbers decrease, but this is much sooner than we expected.”

Conway said Gwinnett authorities have been able to flag hundreds of illegal immigrants, and added the program is also serving as a crime deterrent. Illegals are committing fewer crimes, he said, because word is spreading that they could be deported if they’re arrested.

Every inmate is screened when booked into the jail, and if they’re found to be here illegally, they can be held for ICE.

Since the 287(g) program began at the county jail, deputies have placed 286 detainers on Gwinnett County inmates. The 629 crimes associated with those inmates range from aggravated assault, rape, child molestation, DUI, battery, drug charges, robberies, sex crimes and traffic charges. Another 212 inmates had detainers placed on them before the 287 (g) program begab.

The current detainers for ICE have been placed on inmates from Africa, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama, among others. HERE for VIDEO