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September 2, 2010
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Walton prepared for possible immigrant surge
Published November 22, 2009
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office seems to be preparing for the inevitable.
“(Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway) called me recently and jokingly said we need to get ready for a population explosion,” Sheriff Joe Chapman said. “There is some reality to expect some growth in our local Hispanic population because they are going to be looking for them in Gwinnett County.”
Last week, Gwinnett County implemented the 287(g) program, which allows deputies to identify and place detainers on illegal criminal aliens for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, giving local law enforcement immigration enforcement. According to a press release, Gwinnett County had 18 deputies receive training who will be assigned to identify illegal criminal aliens, detain them in the Gwinnett County Jail before eventually turning them over to ICE for deportation.
Chapman said he is currently looking at the effects of surrounding counties when this program was implemented in Hall, Cobb and Cherokee counties. The sheriff said Walton County is not close to meeting federal guidelines set for the program.
“We have a very minimal percentage of illegals being arrested, and overall I think there is a minimal amount in Walton County,” Chapman said. “We just don’t have the mixture of interstate and major businesses that other counties do. I think with the economy slowing the number of illegal aliens has dropped. But I promise you — if Gwinnett comes out the gates strong with this program, and the illegals have nowhere to hide, they are going to go where they can.”
But the sheriff pointed out they are not waiting by idly.
The WCSO recently received $11,059 to reimburse some of the costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens who have committed serious crimes. The grant was awarded as part of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which provides some financial assistance for correctional officer salaries and is administered through the U.S. Department of Justice, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
According to documentation, the grant applied for reimbursement of 27 foreign-born inmates of which 18 qualified for the SCAAP program. Walton County was one of only 900 selected for reimbursements, selected from a pool of more than 3,140 eligible entities. Georgia has received more than $25 million since 2000 from the SCAAP program.
Congress recently appropriated $1 billion annually for the program through 2014. The program was created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and is currently part of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Chapman said he also anticipates battling any surge in illegal aliens by using the county’s gang task force, which was recently put in place.
“They can combat some of the issues associated with such a change in our county,” Chapman said. “We are not going to sit back and just wait for problems to arise.”
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