Group of residents oppose Hamilton County Sheriff partnership with ICE
A group of protestors in East Ridge opposed to recent actions of ICE. (Photo by: Astral Shoots)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Since last March, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office has voluntarily worked with ICE on immigration enforcement.
This has continued, even as ICE has received increased criticisms for violent incidents across the country including last weekend’s shooting death of protestor Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s office in conjunction with ICE has set up a jail enforcement model program at the Hamilton County Jail through the 287( g)ICE program.
This program allows local law enforcement agencies to take on certain responsibilities that normally are carried out by ICE agents.
This allows the sheriffs office to send illegal immigrants who find themselves at the Hamilton County Jail to ICE custody.
The most recent data released by the Sheriff’s Office for November and December over 40 detainees each month being released to ICE, primarily being arrested over traffic violations or a lack of identification.
Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett while speaking at the Rotary Club last year stated that his office’s involvement in the program is to prevent potentially dangerous individuals, primarily drug traffickers, from entering Hamilton County illegally.
However, this has drawn the ire of some citizens who believe in the light of recent events of Minnesota believe this program should end, as multiple people took turns expressing their disapproval of the program to Hamilton County Commissioners, and that they should be pressuring Sheriff Garrett to discontinue their voluntary involvement in that program.
One resident, Sandy Bell, who said she has lived in America for 34 years and is a citizen, said, “I am a US citizen yet I live with anxiety every day… when I see a Hamilton County Sheriff vehicle my heart races.”
Another resident, Joe Gaston, who said he served in the War in Afghanistan, said, “The violence that I saw over multiple deployments to Afghanistan is the kind of stuff that I’m beginning to see in the streets of Minneapolis. You might say that’s dramatic but it’s the same stuff.”
Evelina Kertay, another resident, said “History will not look kindly upon you if you do nothing. This is fascism.”
Hamilton County is not the only county enrolled in this program, as 12 different counties across our four state viewing area are enrolled in some capacity.
Some counties, like Catoosa and Bradley County Sheriff’s Offices, enrolled in multiple versions of that program.
The following counties who participate in our area are:
- Hamilton
- Bradley
- Walker
- Catoosa
- Whitfield
- Dade
- Marion
- Meigs
- McMinn
- Cherokee
- DeKalb
- Grundy
Jess Bonham of the Chattanoogans for Love, Equality, and Benevolence, or CALEB for short, says that the amount of people who showed up at the Commission to speak out against the program, along with other protests across Chattanooga Wednesday, show that concern is rising about ICE.
Bonham said, “What I heard in the room is chiefly the desire to not be aligned with an agency that has shown in a complete and utter disregard for human life and dignity.”
She says they plan to continue pressuring leaders on this issue.
Bonham said, “I really hope that they would use the power of their voice to stand against this and to recognize that immigrants are their constituents too.”
We reached out to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and Mayor Weston Wamp’s office for comment on this story.
However, they declined to do so.
