Does Bibb County sheriff cooperate with ICE? Here’s how he enforces immigration detainment

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office will not go out of its way to seek people lacking U.S. citizenship documentation, but it will comply as needed with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sheriff David Davis said.

The sheriff’s office’s enforcement of immigration charges has not changed or intensified since President Donald Trump took office Jan. 20, Davis said. ICE raids have recently occurred in Macon, Atlanta and across the country, according to several news outlets.

”Certainly in this regard, we’re not riding through an area where there may be a lot of Hispanics and just saying, We’re just going to get out and start checking people,” Davis said. “If you start doing that, then you have crossed the line into profiling of any ethnic group. We don’t do that.”

For instance, if someone is wanted in a public space such as a school or church, deputies are “not going to go storm in with the SWAT team and a bunch of investigators,” Davis said.

Instead, they would contact an administrator and arrange to meet with the person, or wait until the person steps out, he said.

The only way deputies can find someone lacking documentation of citizenship is upon an arrest or citation of a charge unrelated to immigration, according to Davis. Similarly, those suspected of existing charges will more likely be on ICE’s radar, The Telegraph previously reported.

For example, there were 12 incarcerated people at the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center who lacked citizenship status as of Wednesday, Davis said. But they wound up behind bars due to unrelated charges, including aggravated assault, child molestation, sexual battery, kidnapping, aggravated child molestation, terrorist threats and drug charges. The jail usually holds around 900-1,000 people, according to Davis.

For less-severe charges, such as speeding or lacking a driver’s license and insurance, it is up to a deputy’s discretion whether to hold them in jail or not.

”If someone whose immigration status is questionable and our folks encounter them on the road, they have a right to issue them a citation, we’ll find out where they live and those type of things,” Davis said. “I don’t think it takes away the discretion for the deputy ... if they want them arrested for not driving with a license.”

Sheriff must notify ICE in this instance

The sheriff’s office is required to notify ICE when they arrest someone with a detainer, or someone who is wanted by ICE. The local jail will hold the suspect for up to 48 hours, pending ICE’s decision to deport or release them.

”If they don’t come get them, we don’t have a choice but to let them go,” Davis said.

ICE can deport them, including the 12 currently held at the local jail, even before the end of a court trial or found guilty. This has happened in other cases at the Bibb County jail, but not since Trump took office, Davis said.

”In our past experience, they have come and got the people that they have detainers on and local pending charges,” Davis said. “They can come in, take them and deport them, even with local charges pending.”

ICE does not always notify the sheriff’s office before sweeping away people in Macon neighborhoods or incarcerated people at the local jail.

”We may never know about it and that’s certainly under their purview,” Davis said.

He assured that the sheriff’s office would never organize an operation or raid to arrest anyone lacking citizenship documents, as that is a federal duty for agencies such as ICE and the FBI.

However, the sheriff’s office agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Dec. 9, 2024, solidifying support and assistance with federal immigration officials as needed. House Bill 1105 mandates all Georgia law enforcement agencies and jails must abide by this agreement program called 287(g).

”This administration wants to send a message that they’re serious about this and everything, but it seems they know who they’re going after,” Davis said. “If they ask for our assistance, we’re going to help but they’re kind of taking the lead on it.”

Communication between the sheriff’s office and the Department of Homeland Security is nothing new, according to Davis. He said he only heard about recent raids by ICE through news reports.

“The only change we’ve seen is the notoriety and information that has come about the raids or about the operations that ICE has conducted over the last week,” he said.

This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 2:37 PM.