More than 900 Gwinnett inmates to be deported More than half had a previous criminal history

By ANDRIA SIMMONS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, February 05, 2009

Federal immigration officials flagged for deportation 915 foreign-born inmates at the Gwinnett County jail during a 26-day surge that ended on Thursday.

Of the inmates identified as being in the country illegally, 489 had a previous criminal history, said Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway.

Gwinnett County news Officials from the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the results during a joint press conference Thursday at the conclusion of a targeted enforcement effort that began Jan. 12.

Federal immigration officials worked in 15-person teams from 6 a.m. to midnight during that time frame to interview all the inmates and determine their immigration status. The inmates were charged with a range of offenses including murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, theft, traffic violations, and probation violation, said Larry Orton, assistant field officer director for the ICE Criminal Alien Program in Atlanta.

Gwinnett County is still waiting to hear whether it will be accepted into a federal program called 287(g) that would allow local jailers to begin deportation paperwork on criminal aliens, said Conway.

“I would like to see a program like this 24/7 at the Gwinnett County jail,” Conway said. “Gwinnett County is safer today because of this operation and the work these ICE agents did.”

Cobb, Whitfield and Hall counties and the Georgia State Patrol already participate in the 287(g) program.

Opponents say it would increase the likelihood of racial profiling and create distrust between law enforcement and immigrant communities.

Rev. Tracy Blagec, a spokesperson for Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE), said she suspects many of the undocumented aliens in the Gwinnett jail committed only traffic violations.

“This is local enforcement trying to enforce something that should be corrected at the national level,” Blagec said. She instead advocates federal measures that would speed the path to citizenship, allow more work visas and permit immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

BY THE NUMBERS

Inmates flagged for deportation were charged with the following offenses: Murder 13

Armed robbery 28

Kidnapping 11

Battery 15

Felony theft 34

Felony drug offense 154

Theft of motor vehicle 7

City or county ordinance violation 37

DUI 48

No driver’s license 226

Other felony 45

Misdemeanor probation violation 55

Felony probation violation 42

Rape 15

Child molestation 23

Aggravated assault 38

Family violence battery 12

Misdemeanor theft 30

Burglary 17

Obstruction 9

Hit and run 6

Homicide by vehicle 1

Other traffic 11

Other misdemeanor 37

Note: for inmates with multiple charges, only the most serious offense is listed.

Source: Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department.

Another Jail Death, and Mounting Questions

He lived 42 of his 48 years in the United States, and had the words “Raised American” tattooed on his shoulder. But Guido R. Newbrough was born German, and he died in November as an immigration detainee of a Virginia jail, his heart devastated by an overwhelming bacterial infection.

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