An email exchange obtained through the Georgia Open Records Act and exposed by Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican from Georgia, shows that in the wake of Laken Riley’s murder at the hands of an illegal immigrant, the Athens Mayor and Clarke County Sheriff scrambled to defend the county’s sanctuary policy for illegal immigrants.
That email exchange was between the Democrat Mayor of Athens, Kelly Girtz, and the Clarke County Sheriff, John Williams. In the emails, Mayor Girtz explains the county’s sanctuary policy, which means it does not honor detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Instead of discussing getting rid of the policy in the wake of Laken’s murder, Mayor Girtz discussed defending it.
In one email, Mayor Girtz wrote, “The term sanctuary city does not have a sole legal or procedural definition; instead it is a somewhat generic term that means different things to different people depending on the context of a discussion. Many of the elements ascribed to sanctuary cities are explicitly prohibited by state code.”
Continuing, Mayor Girtz explained the county’s non-detainer policy, writing, “For example, in Georgia a government issued identification card cannot be provided by the state to undocumented persons. See the attached memo about this question that was prepared some weeks ago as follow-up to a public meeting. One protocol that arises in discussion sometimes is the willingness (or lack thereof) of a jail to honor ICE detainers and hold in jail undocumented persons who have not committed an offense for which no legal resident would be held, simply because a person is undocumented.”
Mayor Girtz then, shockingly, defended the policy despite Laken’s murder, saying, “As you note in the email below, your predecessor modified the Sheriffs Office’s prior stance to eliminate detainer holds. While the community is experiencing deep trauma right now, and emotions are understandably raw, I support the detainer policy as one that is both humane and following the well-documented propensity of immigrants in the U.S. to be less criminally inclined than the native-born population (see recent research from Stanford University about that matter).”
That came in response to an email from Sheriff Williams in which he said, “I am respectfully requesting that someone from the Unified Government stand up and address the ongoing banter about Athens being a sanctuary city. It is my understanding this may have resulted from Sheriff Edward’s statements or declaration years ago. I am being bombarded with emails, phone calls and social media posts blaming me for the alleged status. It is my belief that such a declaration does not and has never been an authorized or legitimate power of any Sheriff in the state of Georgia.”
Sheriff Williams also seemed more focused on PR than the death of Laken, writing, “I will do everything in my power to protect the integrity and professionalism of the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office and myself. I look forward to any response and welcome any meeting or discussion to explain why this. [allegation that Athens is a sanctuary city] can or cannot be addressed.”
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After Laken’s death, Mayor Girtz tried to pass the buck, much to the fury of residents. Watch him here:
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