Atlanta To Feds: No More ICE Detainees Here

ATLANTA, GA — Atlanta's jail will no longer house detainees for the federal government's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Thursday signed an executive order directing the city's Department of Corrections to stop receiving those detainees, which the city had been doing under an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Under the Trump administration, ICE's aggressive border-patrol tactics have become a controversial topic in political circles. The issue became especially heated as the controversy over children being separated from their parents and detained at the border erupted in recent months.

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"As we work to achieve our vision of an Atlanta that is welcoming and inclusive, with equal opportunity for all, it is untenable for our city to be complicit in the inhumane immigration policies that have led to the separation of hundreds of families at the United States southern border," Bottoms said in a news release.

The order also directs corrections Chief Patrick Labat to formally request ICE officials to transfer all current detainees from the Atlanta City Detention Center as soon as possible.

The city originally entered into the agreement with the marshals service in 2010. It was halted by a temporary order from Bottoms in June, after the Trump administration's so-called zero-tolerance policies resulted in hundred of families being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.

After convening an advisory committee made up of advocates, law enforcement officials and others, Bottoms decided the city would no longer accept ICE detainees.

"I do not make this decision lightly, or without concern as to the impact on these individuals," Bottoms said. "But until there is comprehensive immigration reform, this is the only way Atlanta can truly fulfill its legacy of compassion and tolerance. Civil offenses do not warrant criminal consequences – and no one should be jailed solely because they seek the American Dream."

In addition to issuing the order, Bottoms announced new initiatives aimed at supporting immigrants. The city will partner with Uber, Catholic Charities and Lutheran Family Services to provide free transportation and meals for families separated at the border who are reunited in Atlanta. She also will be asking Atlanta's city council to expand legal services offered to immigrants through the city's public defender's office.

The city also has officially joined a list of supporters seeking to legally protect people in the U.S. with Temporary Protective Status from being deported. Doing so would impact 12,000 people currently living in Georgia from El Salvador, Sudan, Haiti and other countries, according to the mayor's office.

A copy of the order signed Thursday can be found here.

Photo courtesy City of Atlanta