Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway announced the beginning of the 287(g) program in Gwinnett in November of 2009. It was the culmination of a long process that included support from Gwinnett County Commissioners and the four week training of almost 20 deputies in federal immigration laws, procedures and rules involved in processing aliens.

As implemented in Gwinnett, immigration status will only be checked during the booking process after a suspect is arrested. ICE could take custody of illegal aliens arrested for minor offences within 48 hours, while those with more serious charges (murder, rape) will continue through the County court system. Convicted serious offenders will only be turned over to ICE for deportation once they have served their sentence.

There could be as many as 75,000 illegal aliens in Gwinnett. Many of them end up in the County jail (click here for stats obtained in January of 2009) costing local taxpayers millions of dollars each year and contributing to jail overcrowding.