https://cobbcountycourier.com/2021/01/owens-ends-cobb-participation-in-287g-program/
POSTED BY: ARIELLE ROBINSON JANUARY 20, 2021
Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens is ending the county’s participation in the 287(g) program, he announced Tuesday. Owens said that his action will encourage immigrants to not be afraid of having a relationship with Cobb’s sheriff’s office. “So when [immigrants] have issues or crimes in their neighborhoods, they will come to police,” Owens said.
Latino activist groups like the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights have protested the 287(g) program for years. They say that the program leads to racial and ethnic profiling of Latinos and other people of color. Families are also torn apart.
Former Sheriff Neil Warren entered the agreement in 2007. He most recently renewed the agreement in June last year.
The program is an agreement between the sheriff’s office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under the program designated deputies are given immigration enforcement powers by ICE.
The Cobb sheriff’s office has turned over hundreds of people to ICE in the years the program was running.
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