{"id":14209,"date":"2019-07-22T11:42:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T16:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/?p=14209"},"modified":"2019-07-22T11:45:42","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T16:45:42","slug":"group-urges-athens-commission-to-halt-arrests-of-undocumented-motorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2019\/07\/22\/group-urges-athens-commission-to-halt-arrests-of-undocumented-motorists\/","title":{"rendered":"Group urges Athens commission to halt arrests of undocumented motorists Drivers License Project"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image: DDS<\/p><\/div>\n

OnlineAthens<\/h3>\n

July 4, 2019<\/p>\n

Group urges Athens commission to halt arrests of undocumented motorists<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Lee Shearer<\/a>
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Posted Jul\u00a04,\u00a02019\u00a0at\u00a02:08\u00a0PM<\/span>Updated Jul\u00a04,\u00a02019\u00a0at\u00a02:08\u00a0PM<\/span><\/div>\n
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Police shouldn\u2019t arrest undocumented residents simply for not having a driver\u2019s license, immigration rights activists recently told Athens-Clarke County officials.<\/p>\n

A series of speakers waited through most of a three-hour meeting of the Athens-Clarke County Commission for a chance to urge commissioners to change police policy on the matter during a public comment period in which anyone is allowed to address commissioners and Mayor Kelly Girtz.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat happens weekly in Athens,\u201d said JoBeth Allen, speaking for a committee of Oconee Street United Methodist Church that works with undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n

But after Allen and several others asked the mayor and commission to change policy, Girtz said the practice, if not explicit policy, of Athens-Clarke police was not to arrest people only for driving without a license if they could produce another form of identification such as a passport and could get alternate transportation after being stopped by police.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we need to be more explicit and have some formal protocol that comes before the public, I think we are willing to do that,\u201d said Girtz.<\/p>\n

All it would take is to add one small phrase to the Athens-Clarke police policy book, as Cobb County and several other Georgia counties have done, Allen said.<\/p>\n

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