The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday issued a statement conceding that its policy of declining Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests for illegal immigrants “could be improved.”
Sheriff John Williams, who campaigned in part on not cooperating with ICE detainers, issued the statement after his office received criticism for its policies following the February 22 death of Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley. The 22-year-old was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens.
“In 2018, the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office reviewed and updated its policy concerning foreign nationals booked into the jail. These updates to the policy were the result of public input, a review of best practices, relevant case law, and input from legal counsel,” Williams’ office said in a statement. “Based on the totality of circumstances at that time, the policy was changed to decline requests from [ICE] to hold inmates, known as ‘detainers,’ that are not signed by a judge.”
The law requires the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office to “notify ICE” whenever authorities “book someone either known or suspected to be a foreign national,” the statement read.
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“Our policy reflects that. ICE detainers are requests, not a court order or warrant. Holding a person based solely on an ICE detainer constitutes a warrantless arrest. The policy does allow for detaining if a…
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