DHS blasted Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms after she praised Atlanta’s 2018 decision to end a multi-year, multi-million-dollar ICE agreement during a Democratic fundraiser in Dalton.
Bottoms said the move rejected Trump-era family separation policies and helped spur other cities, counties and states to cut cooperation with ICE.
DHS countered that ICE does not separate families, promoted a $2,600 self-deportation offer and free flight, and warned people in the U.S. illegally they face arrest and removal if they do not leave.
The department argued local cooperation improves public safety, pointing to 40,000 arrests in Florida and more than 650 arrests in a two-week West Virginia operation.
The clash injects immigration directly into Georgia’s governor race, with Bottoms framing the issue around humanity and DHS casting her record as anti-law-enforcement.