CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A group of pro-immigration protesters gathered in Clayton County Monday night and responded to the governor’s announcement that ICE will train Georgia officers isn’t going to deter their efforts.
On Jonesboro Road Monday night, more than two dozen people with the Party for Socialism and Liberation rallied for more protections for immigrants, calling for a stop to deportations and to abolish ICE.
But their focus shifted, after learning of the plan for ICE to train all Georgia State Troopers and other sworn officers of the Department of Public Safety.
“We think it’s absurd,” PSL organizer Jacob Dallas-Main said. “Now they want to escalate these attacks on the immigrant community, they want to escalate their cooperation with ICE.”
“Our commissioner has requested U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) train all 1,100 sworn officers under his command through the 287(g) Program,” Captain Crystal Zion with the Georgia Department of Public Safety said.
287 (g) is a federal program that allows ICE to delegate some of its authority for immigration officer functions to state and local law enforcement.
This latest training effort follows the Georgia Department of Corrections, which has been working with ICE under the same program for years.
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“To better assist in identifying and apprehending illegal aliens who pose a risk to public safety in the state,” added Zion.
“Everyone is trying to prove they’re the hardest on crime, the hardest on immigrants that they can scapegoat the most,” said Dallas-Main.
For Monday night’s protesters, they promise to continue to rally and to educate, in their attempt to fight back.
“We’re going to continue to share what people’s rights are. It’s important for people to know that ICE needs a warrant if they come to your door,” Dallas-Main said.
Governor Brian Kemp’s office said in a statement the program will give law enforcement a “greater ability to communicate with” ICE.
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