MARIETTA, Ga. — The Marietta Police Department is working with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement task force.
The department says it partnered with ICE to avoid losing state and federal funding.
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was live in Marietta for Channel 2 Action News at 5:00.
Police say this move won’t change day-to-day operations. It’s a move the department says it was required to make to avoid losing state funding for the entire city.
Marietta police say it all stems from House Bill 1105 Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law in 2024 after UGA nursing student Laken Riley was attacked and murdered.
It allows officers patrolling in Georgia to arrest anyone they suspect of violating immigration laws.
According to the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office website, it is complying with the same law.
Inmates who illegally live in the U.S. are released to ICE. In December of 2025, a little more than 20 Cobb County Adult Detention Center inmates were released to ice.
The Marietta Police Dept. released a statement explaining how it is complying with the law. It says in part, “We chose the ‘Task Force’ option as we do not operate a jail, and this was the only applicable option. The officer we assigned is a current employee and not someone hired for a new role. That officer is still in their normal role carrying out the same functions.”
It goes on to say that the officer is not traveling in the field with ice in any way.
The agreement went into effect last month. One officer will carry it out, along with regular duties.
The Marietta Police Department says it has not made any immigration related arrests.
An Atlanta-based Latino organization says the police department’s move won’t make the community safer.
A statement from the Latino Community Fund says in part, “HB 1105 notes that local jurisdictions should ‘request’ an agreement with ICE; nowhere in the law does it mandate that jurisdictions sign 207g task force agreements. The Marietta Police Department made an intentional choice in SELECTING this model of agreement, which happens to be the most damaging and dangerous (and expensive) model of ICE collaboration. ... When close to 20% of the population of Marietta is immigrant, this does not make the community safer; on the contrary, people, regardless of documentation status, feel under scrutiny and will depress engagement for fear of having loved ones being targeted and profiled.”
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