South Fulton votes to ban ICE detention centers as state lawmakers ponder moratorium

City updates zoning to freeze out ICE warehouses

Gemini said In a proactive move, the South Fulton City Council passed a resolution aimed at blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from opening detention centers within city limits. 

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - Following a resolution passed Tuesday night, South Fulton aims to "freeze out" Immigration and Customs Enforcement by blocking the agency from opening detention centers within the city. This local measure aligns with recent proposals from a Democratic state lawmaker to prohibit state funding for any future ICE facilities.

South Fulton's plan to freeze out ICE

What we know:

Councilwoman Helen Willis (District 3) says South Fulton has no interest in supporting potential ICE detention centers. "ICE detainment centers are not something that we want in our communities," Willis said. "We are not cooperating or collaborating with ICE in the raids arresting nonviolent immigrants."

On Monday night, the city council approved Willis’s resolution to freeze out ICE from moving into the city. "There are quite a few empty warehouses. We don’t want them to be detaining centers," Willis said.

The resolution includes updating city zoning codes to ban ICE from building detention centers in South Fulton. "We will also direct our land-use authority not to give tax abatements for any developer who wants to come in and develop and develop any of the warehouses for detaining centers," Willis said.

‘There’s a big frenzy around ICE’

What they're saying:

Councilwoman Linda Pritchett (District 7) was one of two votes against the resolution. "As a daughter of Cuban immigrants, this affects me deeply because these are my people," Pritchett said. "However, there’s a big frenzy around ICE. In this city of South Fulton that is 94 percent African American, we do not have a problem with ICE at this time."

Currently, ICE plans to build a massive detention center in the city of Social Circle.

State Sen. Jaha Howard (D-District 35) introduced two proposals at the Georgia Capitol opposing ICE. One would establish a two-year moratorium; the other would block state funds from being used to build ICE facilities in Georgia. "We have to make sure that our cities are not allowing our federal government to come in here and up goes a detention center," Howard said. "Your tax dollars should not be here to warehouse folks we don’t even know have a criminal record or not."

FOX 5 asked if any of these measures have a chance of making a difference.

Howard responded, "What happens when a snowfall starts small and rolls downhill? It gets bigger. And then you have a chorus of resistance, and it has to come from folks no matter your political affiliation."

"Typically, federal agencies respect and follow the local municipalities," Willis said. "We have no jurisdiction over ICE or any federal administration. Typically, historically, they have not gone into local municipalities and violated their local ordinances."

Is ICE coming to South Fulton?

What's next:

Willis says South Fulton has not heard of ICE activity in the city. She says she has heard of no plans for ICE to move into the city. Either way, the city would have little power over what the Trump administration would choose to do.