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ATLANTA – The ACLU of Georgia will join Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice - Atlanta), Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), and community leaders in a press conference to speak out against the wasteful 287(g) immigration enforcement program and demand that the Gwinnett County commission end their agreement.

This week, the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute released a report on the costly choice of voluntary immigration enforcement in Georgia. “Honoring non-binding federal ICE detainers to arrest and hold a person cost Georgia’s local governments an estimated $88 million over the past decade, or an average of about $9 million a year statewide”, the report explains. “These policies carry significant social costs for families and communities, especially in the long-run due to extreme psychological and socioeconomic harm they inflict on children. They also impose some concrete budget costs on local governments.”

“As a former a county official, I know first-hand how hard counties have to fight for funding to satisfy essential services that our constituents need, deserve, and have a right to expect,” stated Burrell Ellis, Political Director of the ACLU of Georgia. “Gwinnett County Sherriff’s Department is locking up people without making our communities safer and discriminating against communities of color. The county is spending between $1.2 and $3.7 million a year – around $30 million over eight years – to fund this controversial and polarizing federal government program. This is a waste of critical local tax dollars and must stop.

“The Sherriff’s Department is wasting precious tax payer dollars that are better spent on parks for our children, safer roads to travel to and from work, senior centers for our elders, and public libraries for all citizens to enjoy.”

WHAT

Press conference against 287(g) immigration enforcement program

WHO
American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta
Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute
State Representative Brenda Lopez
Impacted community members

WHEN
Friday July 20, 2018 at 10 a.m.

WHERE
The Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center
75 Langley Dr, Lawrenceville, GA 30046

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