Impact of 287(g) ICE Detainers After HB1105 - August 28, 2024
Earlier this year, Republicans in the Georgia state legislature forced through HB1105 on party lines in response to the horrible murder of a young woman in Athens.
HB 1105 requires local law enforcement to verify the immigration status of people over age 18 who are arrested. It also requires local police to verify the immigration status of people who an “officer has probable cause to believe” have committed a crime.
While this sounds great on its face, it is far more absurd when you actually understand what it does and what its limits are.
For example, in the great State of Georgia, an extremely experienced federal immigration judge deported a U.S. citizen by accident, contrary to law. The judge, who had decades of experience in the complexities of immigration law, still got it wrong, because immigration law is extremely complicated. It was an honest mistake. And it happened to a trained immigration law judge. Imagine what will happen to thousands of underpaid, undertrained local police officers and the people living here in our state now that this law has taken effect.
Now, the Georgia republican party have decided to burden our local law enforcement officials—whose jobs are already extremely dangerous and demanding—with additional complicated paperwork requiring them to inquire into matters that will likely violate our citizens’ civil liberties and expose our local cities, counties, and state to heightened and unnecessary risk of legal jeopardy—think Section 1983 and discrimination lawsuits.
The new HB1105, which is effectively a 287(g) ICE Detainer mandate, requires local law enforcement to attempt to verify the lawful or unlawful status of persons, but fails to include meaningful instruction about how to do that.
While some people have an I-94 entry document, many don’t for various legitimate reasons. For example, people who have been approved for certain forms of status based on their cooperation with law enforcement (U visas) might not have an I-94.
Separately, for anyone who is pulled over by police for driving without a valid license, this could result in a minor traffic citation spiraling into a 287(g) transfer to ICE custody for removal proceedings with the immigration court.
Anyone in this situation should contact an attorney prior to entering a plea in the traffic court case.
