Gwinnett Sheriff To Enforce Federal Immigration Laws

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- The Gwinnett County Sheriff will become the fourth law enforcement agency in the state to enforce federal immigration laws.

The sheriff said that 18 deputies received training from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the 287(g) program this week in Charleston, S.C. Trained deputies can now directly check a federal database, shorting a process that used to take weeks, down to about 48-hours.

"People who are in the country illegally and are taking American jobs are migrating out of those communities. It is not a well intentioned law gone bad it is a well intentioned law now becoming popular to use. It is growing and everywhere across the country where it's being used it works. Enforcement works," said D.A. King, President of the Dustin Inman Society, a group which opposes illegal immigration.

The program is not without opposition. Activists believe this may open the door to racial profiling.

"There's been rampant abuses, racial profiling, lawsuits and really its undermined confidence in the police department, law enforcement which is why 90 percent of law enforcement agencies in America will not participate in it," said Richard Pellegrino, director of the Cobb-Cherokee Immigration Alliance.

Sheriff Conway will hold a press conference on Monday to discuss further how the program will be implemented in the county.