LUMPKIN, Ga. -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement released two North Georgia students this week who were being held in a federal detention facility while they waited to be deported.
The decision to release Luis "Ricky" Hernandez and Pedro Morales on Tuesday was part of a controversial shift in immigration policy in which cases involving people brought to the United States as young children and those pursuing college or advanced degrees would be given special consideration even if they are in the country illegally.
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"I'm going to do my best, go to school, take another road," Hernandez said moments after walking out of the Stewart Detention Facility in South Georgia.
He and Morales were arrested in separate traffic stops by Whitfield County Sheriff's deputies in mid-June. They were transferred into federal custody after deputies discovered they were not in the country legally.
The young men, who were brought to the United States as small children, represent a challenging question for an immigration system already struggling with a backlog of more than 300,000 people in federal custody for immigration violations.
However, opponents of illegal immigration say the new policy represents a de facto amnesty program, rewarding the people who've broken the rules by entering the country illegally.