Atlanta Mayor ends agreement with ICE

On Thursday, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed an executive order that would transfer all remaining U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees from the city jail and that the city would no longer cooperate with the agency.

The move was not unexpected considering Bottoms signed a separate executive order in June prohibiting the city jail from accepting any new ICE detainees while the Trump administration’s so-called “zero-tolerance” immigration policy was in place.

Bottoms claimed it was her decision was not made “lightly,” but that it was “the most prudent” decision at the moment.

“But until there is comprehensive immigration reform, this is the only way Atlanta can truly fulfill its legacy of compassion and tolerance. Civil offenses do not warrant criminal consequences – and no one should be jailed solely because they seek the American Dream,” said the Democratic mayor.

However, pro-illegal immigration actions did not stop there. She also announced a new partnership between Uber, Catholic Charities, and Lutheran Family Services to provide free transportation and meals to families who had been detained separately after trying to illegally cross the border and were reunited in Atlanta.

In addition, she plans to request approval from the City Council to expand legal services to immigrants through the Access to Justice program, as well as Bottoms disclosed the city had filed an amicus brief along with other U.S. cities to protect those with Temporary Protective Status (TPS) from a variety of countries.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republican nominee for governor, criticized the mayor’s move in a statement he released Thursday afternoon. “The City of Atlanta should focus on cleaning up corruption and stopping crime — not creating more of it,” he said in a statement.