CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — More than 500 people packed into a room in Forest Park on Thursday to question how police plan to enforce Georgia's new immigration law.
The meeting, organized by Latinos United For Clayton County, sought to put some fears about the law at ease, and to open communication with police.
"We want to know if after July 1st is there going to be a major hunt-down of our people?" one man asked through an interpreter.
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Georgia House Bill 87 gives police the power to investigate the immigration status of some suspects and requires employers to verify all workers are eligible to legally work in the in the United States.
"I think, more or less, it's a communication gap. We express how important it is to fill the void and build bridges to make a more productive Clayton County," Clayton County Police Chief Greg Porter told Channel 2's Ryan Young.
"There is a fear about any time you see the police, they are going to stop you and they are going to utilize this law, and they are going to utilize it in ways so that you are unfairly targeted," Clayton County Sheriff Kem Kimbrough said.
Kimbrough said even a young girl approached him at the meeting and asked him to pass along her concerns to the governor.
"With only enforcement only, without actually looking at the big picture and actually knowing that unless we have comprehensive immigration reform, not amnesty, but comprehensive immigration reform, this is no way to solve this," activist Eva Cardenas told Young.
The police chiefs made it clear to the crowd that they are instructing officers to follow the law and trying to keep communication open to keep the community safe.
"There are two words, two very important words, that I try to teach to my officers, and that is discretion and compassion," Jonesboro Police Chief Winston Allen said.