Athens-Clark County Sheriff Campaigned on Not ‘Cooperating’ with ICE: ‘It Is Not My Intention, When Elected Sheriff, to Cooperate with Those Detainers’

Reporter: “So, the sheriff’s office was criticized, as you know, by some community groups in 2018, for cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. Just some background on that, ICE had been requesting that undocumented people finding themselves in jail be held for additional two days after they would have normally been released.”
WILLIAMS: “Right.”
Reporter: “In that time, ICE would come and pick them up and take them to detention center. So that’s a very controversial practice.”
WILLIAMS: “Right.”
Reporter: “Because many feel that it’s an unconstitutional seizure under the Fourth Amendment. So I just want to know what your opinion was on ICE detainers and if you would comply with them as sheriff if you’re elected.”
WILLIAMS: “OK. So, it is not my intention when elected sheriff to cooperate with those detainers. I see it as the sheriff’s responsibility, any law enforcement to protect and serve the community. That’s everybody in Athens-Clarke County community because this is the office that I’m running for. We can’t help with a culture of fear in the community and expect the citizens to respond and help us in situations. Because the fact is that a lot of law enforcement is based around community support. Like I just said, building relationships is key. And if we’re, I guess, antagonizing people, because they are, what, undocumented and documented, then they built that fear in them and they’re not likely to come to us, not only when we need their help, but when they need our help. So that’s not something we’ll be doing. We won’t be doing any type of roundups, we won’t be attributing to that culture of fear. We want people to respect the police, but we also want them to trust us.”