“It may be historic in that it’s likely the first time a Cobb County sheriff has moved to protect drunk driving child rapists in our country illegally.”
So says Jon Ferre regarding Cobb’s Democrat Sheriff Craig Owens. Ferre was Senior Advisor to the Director and later Chief of Staff at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Trump administration. Owens, just after his 2021 election, is known for inviting a mariachi band to play at a gala event where he proudly announced the end of Cobb jail’s lifesaving 287(g) agreement with ICE. Signed into law by then President Bill Clinton, 287 (g) authorizes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform limited, specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight. It is primarily used in jails and deals with illegal aliens already arrested for additional crimes. 
As this writer observed when he was elected, Craig Owens is a dangerous, defiantly arrogant man. Specifically, he pledges to ignore a clear mandate in HB 1105 (“The Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act”) passed in 2024.. In part, it requires all sheriffs to apply for 287 (g) authority if they are not already authorized.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ( “Whiplash in Gwinnett, Cobb as new law on immigration enforcement takes effect) “Owens says he was not going to apply for 287(g) again because he can’t spare the deputies to investigate immigration cases or do the administrative work.” The sheriff is depending on public ignorance on the reality of the ICE program. But even the AJC quotes Lena Gerber, a leftist activist at the “Immigrant Legal Resource Center,” when she correctly points out that “…the agreements on their own don’t require deputies to go out of their way to investigate immigration cases.”
Ferre agrees. “Asking a jailed individual a few questions about citizenship and alienage obviously doesn’t amount to an investigation.” Now working at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington D.C., Ferre recently produced required reading on Cobb’s sheriff (Georgia Sheriff Misleads on 287(g) Program).
Various pro-enforcement Georgians have weighed in about Owens’ announcement. “I believe that would be called a ‘protection racket’ for illegals…” former Border Patrol Agent Robert Trent told me regarding Owen’s latest illegal policy. Trent retired as Assistant Director, Enforcement Training, US Immigration Officer Academy at GLYNCO in Brunswick.
HB 1105 sponsor Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) declares: “It was not surprising to see Sheriff Owens of Cobb County boldly state he would not follow state law. He has refused to follow the law before. This is why penalties for sheriffs who refuse to follow the law were placed in the bill”
Petrea told this writer he is determined to see compliance this time. Let’s hope Georgians hear the same from Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr.
Passage of HB 1105 was a direct response to preventable crimes committed by criminal aliens and sheriffs who were ignoring 2006 and 2009 laws passed to require them to report illegal aliens to federal authorities. It was literally a law that says Georgia Sheriffs must obey the law.
Cobb GOP sheriff candidate speaks out
Republican opponent David Cavender says this: “He can’t spare the deputies for immigration cases or the 287(g) paperwork? He sure doesn’t mind sparing his deputies for bike units, horse units, traffic units, his and his executive staff’s personal drivers and his own executive protection team for his own safety. It seems Craig has plenty of resources to spare as long as it’s for his own agenda.”
A member of the SWAT team, Cavender is a sergeant with the Cobb County Police Department and a 287(g) proponent. He has a long list of endorsements, including ones from former Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren and the Cobb Fraternal Order of Police. (Warren instituted 287(g) in 2007.)
Pro-enforcement voters of all descriptions are flocking to Cavender. The Marietta Daily Journal noted that a large group of supporters turned out at the Marietta Country Club recently to support Cavender. “There’s a lot of momentum behind the campaign and everything really seems to be going really well,” says Cavender. “It was quite humbling, really, to see that kind of crowd.”
Indeed, pro-enforcement Cobb County voters have a chance to greatly improve public safety by voting Owens out of office. Cavender has two votes at our house.
D.A. King is president of the Marietta-based Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com
