Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has announced that all 1,100 sworn officers of the state's Department of Public Safety (DPS) will participate in the federal 287(g) program, granting them the authority to inquire about and arrest individuals suspected of being in the country without authorization.
The move expands the state's collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and aligns with the Trump administration's efforts to increase immigration enforcement at the state and local levels.
"If you are in our country illegally and committing crimes, you have no place in Georgia," Kemp said according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution, calling the expansion a "common sense measure." The governor's plan shifts the DPS's prior role in the program, which had been limited to screening individuals already detained in jails.
Under the new initiative, state troopers and other DPS officers will work directly with ICE to locate and detain undocumented immigrants, employing a "task force model" that ICE describes as a "force multiplier."
Critics, including Gigi Pedraza, executive director of the Atlanta-based Latino Community Fund, have expressed concern over potential racial profiling and "show-me-your-papers" policing. "We are concerned about potential profiling and show-me-your-papers activities affecting hardworking immigrants who are no danger to anyone," Pedraza said.
The task force model was previously discontinued by the Obama administration in 2012 after a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found widespread racial profiling in Arizona under a similar partnership. The DOJ report concluded that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office engaged in discriminatory policing practices, unlawful stops and detentions, and other civil rights violations under the program.
Despite these concerns, the Trump administration has been reviving and expanding 287(g) agreements with law enforcement agencies across the country. Florida, where all 67 sheriffs have entered into such agreements, became the first state to implement a statewide task force partnership.
In Georgia, the move follows legislation passed last year requiring sheriffs to apply for 287(g) or similar enforcement agreements or face criminal penalties. However, no Georgia sheriff has yet joined the task force model, though several have signed agreements that allow local officers to check the immigration status of jail inmates and detain individuals for ICE, according to according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Adelina Nicholls, co-founder of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, warned that the policy shift could have a chilling effect on immigrant communities. "People will feel like they can no longer freely go about their business, like taking their kids to school, going to work, moving from one spot to another," she said. "The police will be dedicated to detaining our community."
Georgia now joins other Republican-led states, including Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, in implementing 287(g) task force agreements.
Kemp's latest effort to expand immigration enforcement follows previous measures, including deploying National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring state and local law enforcement to work with ICE.
The impact of the expansion remains uncertain, as DPS officials have not clarified when troopers will begin implementing the program.
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