Nine Hall County Sheriff’s Deputies are a new weapon for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.) They are the latest Georgia agency to get on board the 287 g program, a federal program that trains local departments to help identify and start the deportation process for the hundreds of illegal immigrants who get picked up for committing crimes.

Some critics are concerned the program will hamper deputies’ ability to do their core duties, make immigrants fearful of reporting crimes or could lead to racial profiling. Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic points out the program only targets illegal immigrants who were brought in for other crimes. Hall County hosted the federal training for 8 agencies around the country.

Hall County Officers sign up for Double Duty

As of right now, ICE has almost 40 programs around the country, with more than 630 officers trained. So far, the program is credited with identifying more than 41 thousand individuals with immigration violations.

Cobb County was the first agency in Georgia to get involved with the 287 g program after Cobb De0puty Loren Lilly was killed in a car crash caused by illegal immigrants. Now, the Georgia Dept. of Public Safety, Whitfield County and Hall County have all started their own programs