GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A metro attorney says some undocumented immigrants are getting arrested despite having no criminal history.
Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson learned that one of the people in custody is a single mother with no criminal history, according to immigration attorney Giovanna Holden, who personally tried to stop her client’s arrest in Athens on Sunday.
On Sunday, holden watched as her client’s 18-year-old daughter and two other children were left behind.
“The officers kept saying that they get an email, they get a text message with a name, a location, and that’s where they go,” Holden said.
Holden said her client had been in the US for six years and regularly checked in with ICE.
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“The immigration officers did not care what happened to the children when they left them,” she said.
According to government numbers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested more than 4,000 people since Sunday.
They’re on pace to arrest more than 1,000 people per day.
Many Republican lawmakers say President Trump is fulfilling a winning campaign promise to tackle immigration head-on.
“Don’t come into this country illegally if you’re already here illegally. Yeah, again, those individuals it’s time to pack up their bags,” state Rep. Houstin Gaines of Athens said.
Data from 2012 shows that immigration arrests and deportations aren’t new. The highest number of deportations in a single year occurred during the Obama administration.
“Usually, ICE targets very specific people with deportation orders and serious crimes,” Holden said.
These days, holden said her clients are more fearful than ever.
“I think we all expected people with five DUIs to be detained, not single mothers with no criminal history,” Holden said.
Currently, at the Gwinnett County Jail, there are about 30 inmates arrested for crimes this month who now have ICE holds meaning they may be deported because of their arrests.
Many deportations also happen after arrests at the border. ICE said these are targeted enforcement operations of criminal aliens who threaten national security or public safety.
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