MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release:
Clayton County Sheriff Rejects Unconstitutional Federal Deportation Quota Effort
as Immigrant Rights Groups Plan to Rally for Executive Action
The Georgia #Not1More Deportation Coalition and member groups are celebrating a new policy at the Clayton County jail which will make residents safer by ending the unconstitutional practice of submitting to ICE detainer requests. They will have a press conference at 4 pm on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at offices of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), 7 Dunwoody Park, Suite 110, Atlanta.
Clayton has now joined more than 290 counties ensuring equal rights and due process by limiting or rejecting requests by ICE to hold people in jail for extra time. Citing federal court cases, the Clayton Sheriff, Sheriff Victor Hill, has announced that he will no longer submit to ICE requests in order to avoid liability and to align local practice with the Constitution.
Advocates see the local development as momentum leading up to the anticipated announcement from President Obama to take executive action to reform inhumane immigration policy and expand deferred action.
They will be rallying in front the of the Atlanta City Detention Center as part of a national “Chant Down the Walls” day of protest on Friday Nov 21 at noon to push the President to act and are calling for Atlanta’s immigrant communities to gather at Plaza Fiesta at 6:00pm on the day of any announcement from the White House.
“While tens of millions of residents await President Barack Obama’s Executive Order on immigration, we commend Sheriff Hill of Clayton County for taking decisive action to end the unnecessary and harmful practice of submitting to ICE holds,” said Adelina Nicholls, Executive Director of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights.
“Since the adoption of 287(g) and Secure Communities and passage of HB 87 in Georgia, the hyper-policing, detention, and deportation of undocumented immigrants have increased tremendously. These failed policies and programs create mistrust, tear families apart, and damage the state’s economy,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director with the ACLU of Georgia. “Sheriff Victor Hill has taken an enormous step forward to repair that trust and make residents of Clayton County safer while abiding by the mandates of the Constitution.”
“The fear caused by the hyper-enforcement inherent in Secure Communities and ICE Detainers is real. This is not complicated; S-Comm makes people afraid of the police, and that makes us all less safe,” says Paulina Helm-Hernandez, Co-Director of Southerners On New Ground. “The Clayton Sheriff is sending a clear message, not one more warrantless detention for ICE.”
“We would like to congratulate Clayton County for standing up for the constitutional rights of all its citizens regardless of their immigration status. Clayton County and in particular Sheriff Victor Hill’s leadership in refusing to honor ICE detainers will help build greater trust between local immigrant communities and Clayton County Police,” said Neil Sardana, Organizing Director of Atlanta Jobs with Justice.
“Clayton County’s policy change will help to strengthen public safety, build trust with immigrant communities, save costs, and prevent family separation. This decision makes good sense, and if followed, should help to protect the county from liability for Constitutional violations,” said Eunice Cho, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Atlanta.
Clayton County’s Sherriff’s announcement comes on the back of the Not1More Deportation’s Campaign win in Fulton County with the 6-0 passage of a local resolution urging the Fulton Sheriff to limit the county’s compliance with ICE detainers.
Friday November 21st – “Chant Down the Walls” Protest
Noon-1 pm, in front of the Atlanta City Detention Center
On the Day of the President’s Announcement
6 pm, Plaza Fiesta
GA Not1More is a Coalition made up of: Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights – GLAHR, Southerners On New Ground (SONG), US Human Rights Network, ACLU of Georgia, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Jobs with Justice, Georgia WAND, Racial Action Justice Center, Coalition of Leaders –Dalton, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), Southeastern Immigrant Rights Network (SEIRN), Women Watch Afrika, Project South, Metro Atlanta Socialists, Georgia Detention Watch, GA Moral Mondays and Atlanta American Friends Service Committee
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