Last year Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed an executive order barring the city jail from holding any criminal illegal aliens detained by federal Immigration Control Enforcement (ICE) agents. The other day the Trump administration struck back at Atlanta and several other cities that are basically “sanctuaries” for illegals – including murderers and rapists– by sending elite federal tactical units from the southern border into them to enforce federal immigration laws.
Atlanta in 2019 experienced a 9 percent rise in murders, an 8 percent hike in rapes and a 12 percent rise in aggravated assaults. Yet Atlanta police are told not to cooperate with ICE agents. In this context, though, Georgia law enforcement insiders tell this writer that the latest ICE crackdown, running from this month through May, could help drive the city’s crime down somewhat.
Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence said in a statement that the deployment is coming in response to Democrat policies in various cities that make it difficult for federal agents to enforce the law.
“As we have noted for years, in jurisdictions where we are not allowed to assume custody of aliens from jails, our officers are forced to make at-large arrests of criminal aliens who have been released into communities,” Albence said. “When sanctuary cities release these criminals back to the street, it increases the occurrence of preventable crimes, and more importantly, preventable victims.”
Among the agents being sent to Atlanta are members of an elite tactical unit called BORTAC, which essentially acts as a SWAT team of the U.S. Border Patrol. Their actions can range from breaking into drug/weapons stash houses run by gangs to random arrests outside workplaces or homes.
