25 signatures reached
To: Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, Sheriff's Office, Police Departments, Superior Court, State Court, Magistrate Court, and other appropriate County agencies
Demand Gwinnett County to Support Its Immigrant Community Proactively (Beyond ICE Non-Cooperation)
We respectfully request that the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, Sheriff's Office, Police Departments, Superior Court, State Court, Magistrate Court, and other appropriate County agencies adopt the following policies:
1. Transparency & Public Safety
- Publish a weekly public report summarizing documented federal enforcement activity within Gwinnett County by agencies such as ICE, DEA, FBI, HSI, or CBP. To the extent permitted by law, the report should include:
- the number of individuals transferred to or held in the Gwinnett County Jail at the request of a federal agency;
- whether Gwinnett law enforcement participated in, assisted with, or declined to participate in the operation;
- the legal authority under which any County assistance was provided; and
- any additional information the County determines can be released without compromising an active investigation or violating state or federal law, and that will correct assumptions or misinformation about who is conducting operations at any given place/time.
- Present a brief public summary of the report via publicly accessible livestream, with interpretation available in commonly spoken languages whenever practicable.
- If information cannot immediately be released to the public, share it as soon as legally permissible with nonprofit organizations, legal service providers, school districts, healthcare providers, faith-based organizations, and other trusted community partners that provide services to affected residents.
- Increase visible patrols and community policing around schools, school bus stops, apartment communities, healthcare facilities, libraries, places of worship, and other locations serving vulnerable populations so residents can continue accessing essential services safely.
2. Human and Legal Services
- Expand multilingual outreach through apartment communities, mobile home parks, schools, libraries, faith organizations, community centers, and similar trusted locations regarding County services, victim assistance, residents' rights, and how to report crime safely.
- Partner with nonprofit organizations, legal aid providers, school systems, and community organizations to improve coordination before and after significant federal enforcement activity.
- Consider grants, public-private partnerships, or County funding to expand access to nonprofit legal services for immigration-related matters, similar to programs supported by the City of Atlanta’s Immigration Deportation Defense Unit within the Office of the Public Defender, with priority given to low-income residents seeking lawful immigration relief or facing removal proceedings.
- Develop and distribute multilingual resource materials identifying available legal, social, health, housing, and victim assistance services before families experience a crisis.
3. Access to Justice
- Conduct Temporary Protective Order hearings and other civil protective proceedings in a courthouse or other neutral judicial setting rather than within the Gwinnett County Jail, except where otherwise required by law or necessary because of extraordinary security concerns.
- Work with the courts, Sheriff's Office, and community stakeholders to reduce barriers that discourage victims, witnesses, petitioners, or respondents from accessing the judicial system.
- Continue evaluating court procedures to ensure that individuals seeking protection or participating in judicial proceedings can do so safely and without unnecessary intimidation.
4. Land Use
- Review Gwinnett County's zoning and land use regulations to determine whether additional public review or Special Use Permit approval should be required for facilities that could substantially affect surrounding communities, including immigration detention facilities, federal staging areas, or similar high-impact governmental uses.
- As part of that review, consider proximity to residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, places of worship, transit corridors, and other sensitive land uses, together with potential impacts on traffic, public safety, and community resources.
5. Law Enforcement Policies (see and sign https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/get-ice-out-of-gwinnett)
- Decline requests for voluntary assistance with civil immigration enforcement, including administrative warrants, administrative subpoenas, and similar non-judicial requests, unless otherwise required by law.
- Establish supervisory review procedures for any legally mandatory cooperation with federal immigration authorities to promote consistency, accountability, and compliance with applicable law.
- Following any joint operation with a federal agency, publicly describe the County's role, when legally permissible, and ensure that County personnel remain readily identifiable and comply with all applicable constitutional protections.
- Avoid conducting or assisting with immigration-related enforcement activities at or immediately adjacent to schools, school bus stops during pickup and dismissal, childcare facilities, healthcare facilities, places of worship, domestic violence shelters, courthouses where individuals are appearing as parties or witnesses, and other sensitive locations, except where required by law or necessary because of an immediate threat to public safety.
Why is this important?
There is an entire body of actions our local governments can taken between "not cooperating with ICE" and "actively supporting Gwinnett communities impacted by ICE." Much of the demand for change has been around the former, particularly to our law enforcement - but there are multiple Gwinnett County government bodies that can take action, and our law enforcement can also do more beyond non-cooperation.