Northwest Georgia police are receiving federal training to help identify illegal immigrants. Whitfield County is the second in Georgia to gain access to the federal database of ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It’s a record of fingerprints taken from arrested illegal immigrants. It will help officers determine the residency status of newly arrested people faster since a person can only be detained for 48 hours.
Whitfield County Sheriff, Scott Chitwood said his department applied for the program after hearing from worried locals.
“Well, in the last several years we’ve seen a large increase in the Hispanic population here in our community and there’s a very large concern by our local citizens,” said Chitwood.Chitwood said the community thinks the overall crime rate is growing, but the majority of crimes committed by the Hispanic population are misdemeanor traffic violations.
Northeast Neighbor, Gwinnett County is under pressure from local officials to apply for the program as well. Last year, 360 inmates were deported from Gwinnett County’s jail.
