Local Sheriff Department Allowed to Enforce Federal Immigration Laws

The Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department has become the fifth agency in Georgia to be accepted into a federal program that allows local and state officials to enforce federal immigration laws.

The Gwinnett Sheriff's Department is one of 11 new law enforcement agencies nationwide whose acceptance into the Homeland Security Department program was announced Friday.

The acceptance of Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway's application was hailed as a victory by anti-illegal immigration groups but decried by civil liberties and human rights groups.

The 11 new participants are the first to sign a new, standardized agreement since the program was overhauled following an investigation earlier this year by the Government Accountability Office.

(Associated Press)

Court Rules On Woman Who Faces Sterilization

The federal appeals court in Atlanta says a Chinese immigrant can continue to appeal a deportation order because of the likelihood she will be sterilized if returned to China. Mei Ya Zhang of New York City, who entered the country illegally in 2003, said that since being ordered deported nine months later she had married and had two daughters, putting her at odds with China's one-child policy. The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled Zhang waited too long to ask that her asylum petition be reconsidered. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the BIA Tuesday to reconsider. A three-judge panel said Zhang showed changed conditions in China, namely that the sterilization policy was being more strictly enforced in her native Fujian Province.

(Associated Press)

Scam Hits Elderly

An 86-year-old Oakwood woman who lost her life savings in a telephone scam wants to warn others so they won't fall for the same ruse. Lois Morrow said in an interview Monday that scammers in Jamaica called her and said she'd won a lot money but had to send smaller sums to cover expenses. They played on her Christian faith to win her trust and cheat her out of tens of thousands of dollars over about six months. Ken Smith is the special agent in charge of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Atlanta. He said such scams frequently target elderly victims and have drained their bank accounts of billions of dollars over the years.

(Associated Press)

Georgia Gazette Thursday, June 18, 2009

Join host Rickey Bevington tonight for Georgia Gazette. On tonight's show… Georgia gets a new head of transportation, will it get you out of gridlock any sooner? The federal crackdown on immigration… is it working? Details of a new report. And Georgia and Ethiopia unite to combat blindness Part II. These stories and another shot at winning a free pass to state parks on Georgia Gazette at 6, 7 in Athens, re-broadcast at 11, hear our show any time at http://www.gpb.org/georgiagazette, and download a free podcast on iTunes.

Autopsy: Dead Detainee Had Heart Problem

An autopsy shows a detainee at a federal immigration detention center in south Georgia died of natural causes. Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said Thursday 39-year-old Roberto Martinez Medina died of myocarditis, an inflammatory heart disease. Martinez, a Mexican national, was being held at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin. He died March 11 at St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. A coalition of immigrant rights and civil rights groups planned to hold a vigil Thursday in front of the Atlanta headquarters of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The groups are demanding accountability and transparency from the agency. Martinez's death was one of the issues they wanted information about.

(Associated Press)

Advocates Push for Immigration Reform

Rallies titled "The Campaign to Reform Immigration for America" kicked off in more than 30 dozen cities across the country on Monday.

The group is made up of members of the faith, business and labor communities.

Its aim is to secure the federal votes needed so that millions of undocumented workers get to live inside the law.

State representative Pete Marin of Gwinnett County says granting some type of limited amnesty to undocumented workers means millions can live in the United States without fear of reprisals.

"People are afraid of getting out of their homes. People are afraid of engaging, of volunterism. People are afraid of going to the doctor, of going to the hospital. People are in fear. It is a sad story but I see families being split apart because of this, some of the racial laws that we're having."

Gina Perez is a third year accounting major at Georgia State University. She's got friends and family who are afraid to travel through some parts of the state.

"You know how lately there's been a lot of checkpoints on the road? There's this thing, like the prohibited counties. Cobb, Hall and Whitefield or Gwinnett. You do not go to those counties ‘cause you know if you go those counties and they check you, it's bad. How is it fair the regular police can act as ICE agents. It baffles my mind."

Immigration advocates say previous attempts to reform federal immigration laws under Presidents Regan and Clinton have failed and left undocumented workers with few, if any, constitutional protections.

Shuya Ohno is the national spokesman for the Campaign to Reform Immigration for America.

He describes immigration reform as a political hot potato, which no one wants to touch, until it’s politically advantageous to do so.

"I think a lot of people used it for kind of heated rhetoric more than policy solutions. That's why it became such a hot topic on talk radio and cable TV. Cause it was against the back drop of electoral politics."

It's estimated that five-percent of America's workforce are undocumented. That comes out to about 10 to 12 million people. Advocates say, those workers should be given a chance to work for equal pay, to pay back taxes, even a fine if that's required.

However, those who oppose amnesty of any kind for the undocumented -- including DeKalb County resident Joe Patricia Aaronstein -- say those workers should 'go home, get in line and wait their turn.'

"I'm for immigration that's legal. I've done it. I've lived in other countries. And, I did it the legal way. They should do it legally. They should apply for citizenship. There's a way to enter legally."

The Campaign for Immigration Reform for America hopes to persuade U-S legislators to create an independent commission, one which assesses nationwide labor shortages, including in agriculture.

The Obama administration has signaled that it wants to begin a discussion on comprehensive immigration reform before the end of the year.

Georgia Gazette, Monday June 1, 2009

Join host Rickey Bevington tonight for Georgia Gazette. On tonight's show … The US Department of Justice rejects Georgia’s voter screening practices…the details. Plus, the push to reform immigration law... And what’s the likelihood Georgia’s coast will be hit with a hurricane this season? A history of tanning… why it’s come in and out of vogue over the years. These stories and your chance to win free parking at state parks tonight on Georgia Gazette at 6, 7 in Athens, re-broadcast at 11, hear our show any time at www.gpb.org/georgiagazette , and download a free podcast on iTunes.

Atlanta One Of 30 Cities For Immigrant Reform Events

Immigrant rights advocates will hold a news conference on the steps of the Capitol this morning to launch the Georgia component of the national Reform Immigration For America campaign. The event will bring together labor, faith, business and immigrant community groups to push for comprehensive immigration reform. Similar local launches are scheduled in more than 30 other cities today. A three-day national campaign summit is set to start Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Nathan Deal Challenges Citizenship Law

Congressman Nathan Deal is proposing a change in the long-standing federal policy that automatically grants citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil. Supporters of Deal's proposal say "birthright citizenship" encourages illegal immigration. Opponents say the proposed law wouldn't solve the illegal immigration problem and goes against the tradition of welcoming immigrants. The 14th Amendment of the Constitution says anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen. Deal, who is running for governor, says the wording isn't meant to automatically give citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants. Deal proposes that babies born in the U.S. would automatically have citizenship only if at least one of their parents is a U.S. citizen or national, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., or actively serving in the U.S. military.

(Associated Press)

Immigration worker charged with bribe taking

A former federal employee who worked with immigration services has been convicted of conspiring to encourage immigrants to enter the country illegally and accepting a bribe. Prosecutors say a federal jury found 54-year-old Hasmukh Patel of McDonough guilty Monday of taking actions to bring a foreign couple to this country with fraudulent work visas. A witness testified he paid Patel, an immigration adjudicatorwith the Department of Homeland Security, $100,000 to bring his brother and sister-in-law into the U.S. Witnesses from the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India, testified Patel called the consulate to vouch for the visa application. Patel faces up to 49 years in prison and a $1.175 million fine when he is sentenced June 23 by U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper.

(Associated Press)

Group Blasts Immigrant Detention Center

Immigrant rights groups plan to release a report blasting the conditions at a federal immigration detention center in southwest Georgia. Georgia Detention Watch is a coalition of immigrant rights groups. The report is based on interviews conducted in December with 16 detainees at the Stewart Detention Facility in Lumpkin. The groups say conditions at the detention center are "grossly inadequate." The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center is operated by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, the country's largest private prison firm.

(Associated Press)

Lawmakers Have Packed Schedule With Two Days to Go

Wednesday marks Day 39 in this year’s legislative session. And both chambers have a packed schedule.

The big issue for House lawmakers is the transportation governance bill. The measure no longer includes the creation of a new state agency – a plan backed by Governor Sonny Perdue. Instead, legislators would have more power when it comes to managing Department of Transportation dollars.

And there’s also a measure to curb property taxes. The legislation would put a 3% cap on property assessment increases.

In the Senate, next year’s budget is the hot topic. And there's a plan to do away with both the sales tax and the so-called birthday tax on car purchases. Instead, every sale would be subject to a title fee of up to $1500. Some of that money would be set aside for trauma care.

Below is a list of the bills that are on tap for the second-to-last day of the 2009 session.

House:
SB 27 - Confederate Heritage/History Month; create; encourages observances/celebrations; provide statutory construction
SB 49 - Georgia Registered Professional Nurse Practice Act; nursing education program
requirements; revise certain provisions
SB 85 - Georgia Aviation Authority Act; create; provide for membership, governance,
operation, power, duties
SB 114 - Education; provide for transfer of students who are military dependents into a local school system
SB 128 - Motor Vehicles; option of owner; permanent license plates for boat, utility,
noncommercial cattle/livestock trailers; provide for fees
SB 133 - Health Share Volunteers in Medicine Act; provide certain compensation; health care provider; sovereign immunity protection
SB 144 - Insurance Agent License; applicant shall be appointed by an authorized insurer prior to issuance of the license; repeal requirement
SB 163 - Human Resources Commissioner; authorize to appoint a diabetes coordinator
SB 164 - State Highway System; signs and signals; height limitations; allow owners to obtain permits to remove vegetation from the viewing zones
SB 172 - Victim Compensation; provide for recovery for serious mental and emotional
trauma; change definitions; provisions
SB 178 - Education; advance funding, exceptional growth, low-wealth capital outlay grants; embed/extend a sunset date
SB 194 - State Purchasing; benefits based funding projects; revise provisions; change
membership of an oversight committee
SB 195 - Professions/Businesses; clarify applications submitted in prescribed form not necessarily written document; provisions
SB 200 - Transforming Transportation Investment Act; create State Transportation Agency; definitions; purposes; abolish State Road/Tollway Authority
SB 201 - Health; provide voluntary contributions through individual income tax returns for cancer research
SB 207 - Proceedings; admit general public to hearings in juvenile court with certain
exceptions
SB 246 - Courts; provide notice of the release of child from detention under certain
circumstances; definitions
SB 253 - Sparklers; provide a definition for the term "indoors"
SR 1 - Appropriations; provide for prioritized funding requirements regarding certain
supplementary appropriations Acts - CA
SR 153 - Education Improvement Districts; provide creation and comprehensive regulation - CA
SR 176 - James H. Chandler, Jr. Memorial Intersection; dedicate


Senate:
HB 2 updates and clarifies many existing provisions in Georgia law related to illegal immigration.
HB 16 prohibits the use of an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of another person without that person’s consent, with several exceptions.
HB 56 revises provisions relating to distribution of proceeds and renegotiation of distribution certifications.
HB 63 deletes the chapter governing the Redevelopment Powers Law and replaces with some existing and new language. It also adds new language regarding the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Restriction Act.
HB 64 specifies that a funeral director must file a death certificate within 72 hours.
HB 69 allows a physician to issue a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order without the concurrence of another physician so long as there is oral or written consent from an authorized health care agent operating under a durable power of attorney or pursuant to an advance directive.
HB 86 allows that absentee ballots must be counted by precinct, and separate returns must be made showing the results by each precinct.
HB 101 allows that a transit agency may authorize the placement, erection, and maintenance of commercial advertisements on or in transit vehicles or facilities owned or operated by that transit agency.
HB 119 makes and provides appropriations for the State Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2010.
HB 120 authorizes the annual sales tax holiday for school supplies and energy efficient appliances.
HB 141 is the annual housekeeping bill for the Department of Banking and Finance (the Department), which addresses the regulation of financial institutions and commercial paper in Georgia.
HB 147 relates to proceedings for forfeiture of bonds or recognizances, so as to relieve a surety from liability under certain circumstances.
HB 169 provides a notice of new or revised flood elevations to Georgia property owners affected.
HB 173 permits non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in employment and business contracts.
HB 184 directs the Department of Human Resources to prepare information for public dissemination on the department’s website describing the importance of obtaining a blood test for sickle cell disease.
HB 186 extends the income tax credit for teleworking through FY2012. It also increases the available credit to $2.5 million for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012.
HB 189 revises the applicability of the Georgia Arbitration Code because the General Assembly finds that entities need to cooperate with each other to ensure parents with better options on child support obligations.
HB 217 sets forth the requirements for influenza vaccine protocol agreements between physicians and pharmacists or nurses.
HB 221 amends two statutes to require that writs of mandamus and writs of prohibition to compel the removal of a judge cannot be issued if a motion to recuse has not been filed first, nor where a motion to recuse has been denied after assignment to a different judge.
HB 243 provides conditions of employment of certificated personnel in elementary and secondary education for salary increase for persons receiving certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
HB 258: Driver's license; minor of disabled guardian; restricted learner's permit; provisions
HB 278 allows local school system to waive the expenditure control requirements under the Quality Basic Education Act
HB 304 revises the rights of county appraisers and tax assessors and authorized agents of the county to go onto property to conduct official business.
HB 310 provides that the statewide recycling program for state agencies.
HB 318 defines several terms relating to the place of return for tax purposes of motor vehicles and mobile homes.
HB 321 relates to "group accident and sickness insurance" defined and "true association" defined, so as to provide for changes in the definitions of the terms.
HB 344 Probation; Department of Corrections; collections of additional fees; authorize
HB 349 Sales and use tax exemption; new construction of civil rights museum; provide
HB 371 Public Retirement Systems Investment Authority Law; increase in allowable fund investment; provisions
HB 379 Income tax; certain real estate investment trusts; disallow expenses paid
HB 388 The Option of Adoption Act
HB 395 Sales and use tax; personal property; construction of certain symphony halls; extend exemption
HB 406 Service delivery strategies; certain drinking water projects; funding limitation; provide exemption
HB 438 Income tax; tax credits for qualified jobs and projects; comprehensive revision
HB 439 Income tax; credits; business enterprises
HB 453 Superior courts; sunset dates for property filing fees; change
HB 455 Elementary and secondary education; annual contracts for certified personnel; extend certain deadlines
HB 473 Community Affairs, Department of; grants for clean energy property
HB 477 Retirement and pensions; creditable service; application requirement
HB 480 Taxation of motor vehicles; comprehensive revision
HB 483 Ad valorem tax; modernization and revisions of certain provisions
HB 485 Income tax; alternative credits for base year port traffic
HB 487 Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund of Georgia; employee contribution
HB 488 Superior Court Clerks' Retirement Fund of Georgia; eligibility criteria for creditable service
HB 492 Time-share projects and programs; private residence clubs
HB 493 Georgia Youth Conservation Corps; creation and purposes of the corps;
HB 509 Professions and businesses; regulation; change provisions.
HB 514 Judicial system; assignment of senior judges;
HB 528 Specialized land transactions; developers provide audits to homeowners
HB 549 Driver Services, Department of; information for purposes of creating juror lists
HB 568 Public Service Commission; members shall represent entire state
HB 575 Kidnapping; change certain provisions
HB 608 Time-share projects; estate shall include certain interests
HB 639 Special license plates; protect wild dolphins in Georgia
HR 161 White, Mr. John Jerome; compensate
HR 336 CPL Jonathan Ryan Ayers Memorial Interchange; dedicate

Suburban Thoroughfare Symbolizes Mixed Signals for Immigrants

Odilio Perez aches for a life beyond Buford Highway, a six-lane stretch of strip malls and ethnic diversity that cuts through three counties in Georgia.

The Guatemalan man settled along the artery leading out of Atlanta more than a decade ago, answering the call of local officials who used the springboard of the 1996 Summer Olympics to make immigrants a centerpiece of the community's rebirth. Vacant car lots and whitewashed stores gave way to affordable apartments, an eclectic mix of shops and towering business signs that are a study in polyglot.

"I've lived and worked here for 10 years without a problem," Mr. Perez, 33, said recently in the English he has learned since entering the country illegally. "I'd love to be a citizen, if I had a chance. But I went to a lawyer but he told me there's just no way."

Mr. Perez is part of a massive movement of immigrants who have bypassed traditional destinations in favor of the South.

Perhaps no place captures the transformation as vividly as Buford Highway.

People on both sides of the immigration debate say the highway is unique in its array of groups, and even more significant as an 8-mile example of the conflicting signals immigrants receive about whether they're wanted.

The highway was born when the Olympics peppered the Atlanta area with construction jobs, fueling a 300 percent increase in the Hispanic population in Georgia.

Officials in the working-class suburb of Chamblee saw opportunity and tailored their municipal codes to harness the convergence of newcomers.

The industrial businesses that were the highway's main employers had shut down in the 1980s and early 1990s. As the Games approached, Asian merchants attracted by inexpensive leases and a steady traffic conduit established restaurants and shops along the highway.

Latino workers added to the dynamic. They lived in dilapidated apartments along the road. A few squatted in the woods.

Tension surfaced at City Hall meetings. Longtime residents didn't want empty lots, but they didn't want foreign encampments either.

In response, Chamblee hired its first city manager, Kathy Brannon.

She cracked down on flophouse landlords and strictly enforced loitering rules. Then the city enacted sweeping zoning that permitted retail and new apartments in the same area.

By the end of the 1990s, Chamblee had established a zone dubbed the "International Village," home to nearly 1,000 people, mostly immigrants.

Ms. Brannon, who is to retire this year, has left her successor with an outline for the next vision of Buford Highway: more green space and fewer strip malls, all meant to make the area not just a destination for immigrants but for Atlantans hungry for diversity.

Since the year Ms. Brannon established the International Village, nationwide workplace arrests on immigration violations have increased fivefold, and deportations of suspected illegal immigrants have doubled, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

In 2006, law enforcement agencies in the Southeast enlisted in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement partnership that allows local officers to interview and fingerprint foreign-born people they detain.

The stepped-up enforcement has contributed to a decade-long backlog in legal residency applications and, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a wait list of about 1 million for citizenship.

Nikki Nguyen, 54, a Vietnam war refugee who petitioned for years to enter the U.S., filed to sponsor her sister to join her in the U.S. 12 years ago. The case is still pending.

Construction has dried up, and Buford Highway sometimes looks like it did in the old days.

But few immigrant workers plan to leave. With families here, a network of employers and several years invested in Chamblee's immigrant vision, their fortunes are aligned with the highway's.

"This country says it doesn't want us, but when there's a job to be done, it needs us," said Mr. Perez. "We see the two faces of this country up close, and it's sometimes hard to know which is the real one."

(AP)

Corrections Corp. to Manage Georgia Prison

Corrections Corp. of America, which designs, builds and manages prisons, jails and detention facilities, said Monday it has received a contract to manage detainees for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Georgia facility.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the five-year contract at the North Georgia Detention Center in Hall County.

The facility has a capacity of 502 beds and Corrections Corp. of America will house up to 500 detainees. It said it will initially lease the former jail for 20 years with two five-year renewal options.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based company said it anticipates opening the facility in the second quarter and that it will be "substantially occupied" by the end of the year.

Corrections Corp. of America said it will employ about 160 correctional professionals in security, facility management, accounting, health services, human resources, business management and education.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of immigration issues.

(AP)

Number of Hate Groups Up

Hate groups are multiplying according to the latest study by the Southern Poverty Law Center. For the past eight years the number of hate groups has doubled to 926 nationwide. Forty of them are in Georgia.

"The rise over the last seven to eight years has been driven by exploitation of immigration," says Mark Potok with the Southern Poverty Law Center. "Using that issue they’ve been able to recruit and build new roots.”

Potok says that last year the election of President Barack Obama and the tanking economy fueled the creation of more hate groups.

In Georgia, the groups in the report range from the Ku Klux Klan to neo-confederates like the League of the South. Organizations that make the hate list are those who believe a group of people is inferior based on their characteristics.

Inmates To Be Deported

Deportations loom for many of the 914 foreign-born inmates discovered at the Gwinnett County jail during a 26-day review that concluded this week. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken custody of about a third of those inmates, while the others are being detained for possible deportation. Gwinnett County's Sheriff says no one outside the jail was checked for citizenship during the surge and that all jail inmates, who average about 2,700 per day, were screened regardless of their claim to citizenship.

(Associated Press)

Columbus Job Fair: Officials Optimistic, Despite Cuts

Applicants looking for work throng the hall of the Columbus Trade and Convention Center, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 1009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

More than 2,500 job-seekers attended a job fair held in Columbus Thursday. Employers from the area, as well as out-of-state and national firms were at the event, held at the city’s convention center.

Department of Labor officials say some 55 companies, from Aflac and local hospitals, to local and Atlanta MARTA police departments, to Georgia Power and employment agencies are taking job applications.


Miguel Flores (facing) of Fort Benning assists a job-seeker at the Columbus job fair, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Fort Benning's Warrior Transition Battalion has a representative here as well, to aid troops in making the sometimes complex conversion from uniform to civvies.

There are also representatives from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in nearby Lumpkin, and the Florida Highway Patrol.

The large-scale fair is held several times a year, and Labor Department officials say while the turnout by employers is a little more than half last year's showing – they’re optimistic that employers and applicants will be introduced to each other.


Applicants submitting resumes to company online websites. (Photo: Dave Bender)

To that end, they’ve set up a bank of computers for applicants to go directly to the companies’ websites, and set up interviews there, as well.

Many of the job-seekers are either in, or soon after college, and some have recently completed military service.

Celeste Edge of Columbus is looking has a degree in Communications and wants a position in her field:

"It’s been ok; I’ve talked to a couple of people who seem a little promising, like the hospital and one of the staffing agencies who thinks they might be able to place me – but, you know – I’m just hoping for the best."

There were many resumes and handshakes, and many people filled in applications online.

Jim Huntzinger of the DOL is one of the fair’s organizers, and says they’re trying hard to lower jobless rates:

"We have 55 employers here, with, as i say, with the economic situation, is, I think, fantastic. And it’s 55 employers that have jobs."

Some came away frustrated from the experience, though.

Eric Harris of Columbus recently finished the Army and is studying criminal law at Troy University; he got a lot of what he calls “headnoes”:

"...that’s everybody shaking their heads, saying, ‘No; go online; we don’t have any applications, we’re not hiring…so it’s like, I’m very discouraged at this point so I’m just thinking about dropping school and going back in the military – and I’m, not the only one feeling like this. There’s a lot of others in there stressing the same thing about their feeling the same disappointment at this job fair – they need to do better."

About 3,000 people turned out for last year's job fair, and Department of Labor officials say they’ll hold a similar job fair in May.

Kia Motors' tier-one supplier, Sewon American, will accept applications for 400 to 600 production workers for a car parts factory that will open in a few months.

They'll be taking applications next week in Lagrange.

The Kia plant in West Point is about half an hour north of Columbus, and is set to open its doors in the late fall.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the job situation.

Tight Budget Pushes Other Issues Aside

State Senator Bill Hamrick in the Senate plenum, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

The $2.2 billion dollar budget shortfall is pushing a lot of controversial issues to the sidelines.

Lawmakers say things are different this year than any other year. The Republican controlled legislature has never faced such drastic cuts to balance a state budget.

Almost nonexistent are controversial bills on immigration and gun control. State Senator Bill Hamrick sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He says the energy to tackle less urgent issues just isn't there:

"It really is mentally draining when you work on this in the legislature all day and then you go home and talk to people in the grocery store who have been laid off," Hamrick says.

Some lawmakers are banking on money from Washington to help them through this budget year and take the pressure off. Other are working on Governor Perdue's recommended budget, which so far includes no new federal funds.

Clergy say Gwinnett plan is racial profiling

Members of Concerned Black Clergy held a protest in Gwinnett County today after that county’s Sheriff's Department applied for training from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Once trained, deputies would have access to federal immigration databases and would be able to begin deportation proceedings for illegal immigrants. Concerned Black Clergy says the program leads to racial profiling and disruption of families.

(Associated Press)

Old Hall County jail to house illegal immigrants

Wardens uncuffing a group of Latin American detainees before they are sent back to their countries of origin, at the Stewart Co. Detention Center, Nov, 2007. (Dave Bender/file)

The old Hall County Detention Center in Gainesville has been empty for more than a year. But that's about to change.

County officials are leasing it to Corrections Corp. of America (CCA). It will be renamed the North Georgia Detention Center.

CCA spokeswoman Louise Grant expects the firm will be doing construction and renovation work on the jail in January.

The 20-year lease with the private prison firm could bring more than 100 new jobs to the area and bring the county about $2 million in annual revenues.

Federal immigration detainees in blue and orange jumpsuits at the Stewart Co. Detention Center, a facility run by the same firm, Corrections Corporation of America, that will administer the facility in in Hall Co. (Dave Bender/file)

CCA will house federal immigration detainees.

The future of the 489-bed jail has been in doubt since the sheriff's office moved its inmates into a new $52 million jail in November 2007.

(AP)

Information from: The Times, http://www.gainesvilletimes.com