BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — The recent arrest of a foreign national along Buford Highway is leading to fears of police and immigration enforcement working together.
The arrest happened at the Terraces at Brookhaven Apartments on June 6. An incident report from Brookhaven Police details officers arriving to back-up agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The news outlet Mundo Hispanico captured the scene as a man and two unidentified individuals sat inside a van, surrounded by police officers and ICE agents.
Marco Palma, president of the community organization Los Vecinos de Buford Highway, said he and others watched the video from Mundo Hispanico as it was shared within the Hispanic community along Buford Highway.
"So I saw the video, we all saw the video and so I saw that Brookhaven PD was working with ICE officials," Palma said. "They chased a few people and they arrested I believe one man."
A spokesman with Brookhaven police said his department's officers weren't working in coordination with ICE, but were only at the apartments during the arrest after receiving a call from ICE for back-up.
"The (ICE) agents were in plain clothes," Sgt. Jacob Kissel said. "That is typically what we will have. The agents are in plain clothes. So to ensure the safety of our citizens that are within the community we were there to legitimize that this was, in fact, a valid warrant and a valid arrest being made."
An ICE spokesman sent 11Alive the following statement when asked about the arrest:
"ICE believes public safety is best served when law enforcement agencies cooperate and ICE seeks to work collaboratively with our state and local partners to the extent they are willing to do so. ICE conducts targeted immigration enforcement in accordance with federal law and agency policy, and the agency works with local jurisdictions to the extent permissible in accordance with relevant law and policy. ICE conducted a vehicle stop and subsequently contacted Brookhaven for assistance. I’ve seen claims circulating that ICE asked Brookhaven to conduct the vehicle stop for this agency, which is not accurate."
Brookhaven Police reports obtained by 11Alive describes officers arriving and talking with an ICE agent holding a "deportation warrant," for a 22-year-old man.
In the report the wanted man is quoted saying he, "had no problem with police," but that he wouldn't get out of his vehicle with ICE agents present. Eventually, the man tried running away, an ICE agent chased after and arrested the 22-year-old.
An ICE spokesman confirmed to 11Alive the man arrested is a foreign national from Honduras. According to ICE records the man was ordered to be removed from the U.S. by a federal immigration judge in February of 2018. The spokesman said the 22-year-old has "several misdemeanor criminal convictions."
Palma said the Hispanic community along Buford Highway has a good relationship with Brookhaven Police, but they now have questions after seeing the arrest on June 6. On behalf of Los Vecinos de Buford Highway, Palma said he sent a letter to Brookhaven Police asking for an apology and explanation, but so far hasn't received a response.
"It would make things a lot easier if we had a town hall meeting and people had their questions answered and they fully explained what happened just because there is a lot more fear now," Palma said. "When events like this happen people feel more hesitant to call the police if they witness a crime, or if they're victims of a crime. What we don't want are for crimes to go unreported."
Sgt. Kissel said his department takes pride in working with the community and has several programs to build and maintain strong relationships with Hispanic residents, but sometimes a video can be presented without proper context.
"We have to combat the perception that it looks like we are working with specific agencies hand-in-hand, or that we had knowledge prior to their arrival as to what was going on," Kissel said.
It is common according to Kissel for police to receive calls for back-up from other departments and federal agencies such as the FBI or ICE. He added calls from ICE though are rare.
"Our agency stands that any public safety agency that needs assistance, we will be there to provide necessary assistance," Kissel said, but he added the department draws a line at becoming too involved in an incident, such as making a traffic stop or arrest for a federal agency while in a back-up role.
"If that request were made, it would be outside the scope of what we were there to do and we wouldn't entertain that," Kissel said.
Palma remains hopeful Brookhaven Police and the Hispanic community can maintain a positive relationship, but he maintains members of his community want to hear directly from the police department.
"The arrest was done properly. That I can say. There wasn't necessarily any misconduct involved, but it is Brookhaven PD is very much involved in the community," Palma said. "These are the same officers that shop at the local grocery stores, the local gas stations, so people feel very uncomfortable with them working with ICE."