ICE Arrests in Georgia; Gov. Kemp Wants SNAP Restored; Jones Headed to Cooperstown?

Summary

Georgia Today – January 20, 2026

Episode Title: ICE Arrests in Georgia; Gov. Kemp Wants SNAP Restored; Jones Headed to Cooperstown?
Host: Peter Biello, GPB News

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Overview

This episode covers key events shaping Georgia's current landscape: a deep dive into the reality of ICE immigration arrests in Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp's request to restore federal SNAP funding, major student protests against ICE, weather updates, legislative developments, and a look at Atlanta Braves legend Andruw Jones's potential Baseball Hall of Fame election.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. ICE Arrests in Georgia: Out of the Headlines, But Ongoing

(00:30–04:18)

• Contrasting National and Local Visibility:
  While dramatic images of ICE enforcement make news in some US cities, Georgia sees frequent ICE arrests with little visibility. According to ICE data and the Deportation Data Project, Georgia ranks just outside the top 10 in the US for arrests per capita.

• Historical Context:
  Charles Cook (immigration attorney):

  "Normal operations, normal detentions, occasional larger group pickups at a job site. None of that is unusual dating back to the Clinton administration." (01:48)

• Legislative Changes Intensifying Cooperation:
  Samantha Hamilton (immigration attorney) explains:

  "In 2024, the Georgia General assembly passed a law called the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report act, also known as HB 1105." (02:11)

  • Effect of HB 1105: Mandates some level of cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE, making about 1/3 of Georgia ICE arrests originate from local agencies turning people over.

• Why Georgia Avoids High-Profile Raids:

  "HB 1105 is also maybe the main reason why Georgia has not looked necessarily quite like Minneapolis or Chicago or LA, where these like massive performative raids are happening."
  — Samantha Hamilton (02:36)

  • Low-Profile Arrests Dominate: Only 10% of arrests in Georgia are “custodial” (ICE in the street); the majority are “non-detained docket” — people already known to the immigration system, often arrested during check-ins or court appearances.

• Emotional Impact on Families:

  "The act of, you know, someone being snatched from their family like, you know, disappeared for hours... that is also like an act of violence."
  — Samantha Hamilton (03:50)

  "[A man] was picked up with his wife who's just becoming a resident, his kids who are citizens, his grandkids are citizens, who has committed no crime other than working. That's life destroying, that's family destroying."
  — Charles Cook (04:00)

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2. Student Protests Against ICE Operations

(04:23–05:15)

• Event: A 100-student walkout at Georgia State University protesting recent federal immigration raids and the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Goode in Minnesota.

• Student Perspective:
  Logan Castillo (GSU freshman):

  “With social media nowadays, it feels like no one cares and it feels like extremism is simply so rampant and it feels like common sense is just lost. I believe that…getting together with all these people shows that there is still decency.” (05:10)

• Scope: Additional protests at other Atlanta-area universities and high schools.

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3. Death in ICE Custody at Georgia Detention Center

(05:23–05:44)

• Details: Mexican national Heber Sanchez Dominguez died at the Robert A. Dayton detention facility in Lovejoy, Georgia (Clayton County, operated by GEO Group).
• Significance: First ICE custody death in Georgia this year, fifth nationwide in 2026. Cause of death is under investigation.

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4. Gov. Kemp Seeks Restoration of Federal SNAP Funding

(05:44–06:16)

• Kemp’s Request: $46 million to offset SNAP admin staff funding cuts (federal contribution was reduced from 50% to 25%).
• Importance: SNAP serves more than 1 in 10 Georgians; funds primarily pay salaries for ~3,000 state caseworkers.

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5. Georgia Participates in Federal School Vouchers Program

(06:16–06:57)

• Announcement:
  Governor Kemp introduces program giving taxpayers a $1,700 tax credit for donations to scholarship organizations, separate from the state's own $6,500 Promise Scholarship for private school students.

• Legislative Support:
  Speaker John Burns:

  “This means more resources will flow directly to students who need them the most, creating more opportunities and empowering more families in our state.” (06:44)

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6. Weather Updates: La Niña Ends and Cold Front Approaches

(06:57–08:04)

• Shift in Weather Patterns:
  The La Niña weather system is ending; Dr. Pam Knox (UGA Weather Network) predicts a move toward El Niño, bringing more rain and cooler, cloudier weather.

  “We are likely to see the jet stream come and park over us, which means more rain, more clouds and cooler temperatures just because we're not getting as much sunshine.” (07:34)

• Potential for Relief: This might help Georgia’s drought-stricken agriculture—pending rainfall through April.

• Immediate Warning: Major cold front could bring snow and ice to north/central Georgia over the upcoming weekend.
  Governor Kemp urges early storm preparedness.

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7. Other Noteworthy State News

(08:04–12:03)

• Supreme Court & Fed Chair: Jerome Powell to attend court arguments regarding the White House's attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook, who has Georgia ties.
• Property Tax Reform: Senate Republicans push bill to cap property tax hikes at inflation rate; school board concerns over education funding remain.
• Support for Timber Industry: Lawmakers seek to end sales tax on timber, potentially costing the state $18M/year, to aid an industry battered by hurricanes and mill closures.
• Trade Mission to Belgium: Governor Kemp, First Lady, and officials to meet with Belgian companies (e.g., JCB) with significant operations in Georgia; trade totaled nearly $5B in 2024.
• Lucas Theater Closed for Bat Removal: Savannah cultural landmark to temporarily move performances after discovery of bats during scheduled renovations.

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8. Sports Highlight: Andruw Jones on Verge of Hall of Fame

(12:03–12:52)

• Braves Great Near Induction:
  As of Monday night, Andruw Jones is on 83% of public HOF ballots—above the 75% threshold. His accolades: 5-time All Star, 10 Gold Gloves, youngest player to homer in a World Series—twice in his debut (1996 Game 1).

  “Another home run for Andruw Jones.” (12:03)

• Announcement: Inductees to be revealed at 6:00 PM on MLB Network.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Charles Cook (on family impact of ICE arrests):

  "That's life destroying, that's family destroying." (04:00)

• Samantha Hamilton (on low-profile ICE operations):

  "...that is also like an act of violence." (03:50)

• Logan Castillo (GSU student, on the value of protest):

  "It feels like extremism is simply so rampant and it feels like common sense is just lost. … there is still decency." (05:10)

• Speaker John Burns (on school voucher program):

  "More resources will flow directly to students who need them the most..." (06:44)

• Pam Knox (on end of La Niña):

  "...more rain, more clouds and cooler temperatures..." (07:34)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Topic | |----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:30 | ICE arrests in Georgia: background and current stats | | 01:40 | Charles Cook contextualizes Georgia's enforcement approach | | 02:11 | Explanation and impact of HB 1105 (Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act)| | 03:27 | Discussion of custodial vs. non-detained ICE arrests | | 03:50 | Family and community impact of low-profile ICE arrests | | 04:23 | Student walkouts in response to ICE shooting/reports | | 05:23 | Death in ICE custody at Georgia facility | | 05:44 | Governor Kemp’s request to restore SNAP funds | | 06:16 | Georgia joins federal K-12 scholarship tax credit program | | 06:57 | Weather forecast and impact of La Niña’s end | | 08:04 | Cold front and winter storm preparedness message | | 10:16 | Business/trade news, Lucas Theater bats | | 12:03 | Andruw Jones and Baseball Hall of Fame watch |

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Conclusion

This Georgia Today episode provides an in-depth snapshot of the intersection of immigration enforcement, state-level policy reactions, student activism, evolving state and federal funding issues, legislative priorities, key weather changes, and a cultural moment for Atlanta sports fans. Topical, nuanced, and grounded in the voices of both officials and everyday Georgians, it captures a moment of real change—and challenge—for the state.

Transcript

[Peter Biello]

Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, ICE arrests in Georgia haven't been making splashy headlines, but they are happening. Governor Kemp is asking lawmakers to restore SNAP funds that were cut by the federal government. And former Atlanta Brave Andrew Jones may be elected to baseball's hall of Fame tonight.

[Sports Announcer]

Into left field. Well hit Strawberry back at the wall. Another home run for Andrew Jones.

[Peter Biello]

Today's January 20th. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today. Violent scenes of immigration enforcement in major cities across the US have been topping headlines and filling social media feeds. But while evidence of action like that in Georgia is sparse, immigration arrests here are happening even more often than the place is making headlines every day. GPB's Grant Blankenship explains why it's the.

[Grant Blankenship]

Sunday after Renee Goode's killing by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and a crowd is gathered in Macon's Tattnall Square park protest.

[Sports Announcer]

Make some noise.

[Grant Blankenship]

In Minneapolis, the whistles mean ICE is here, but in this park, there's no one from ICE to raise this alarm. But that doesn't mean ICE officers aren't arresting people in Georgia. According to ICE data curated by the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, Georgia is just outside the top 10 US states for immigration arrests per capita, at least through last October. Minnesota is number 36, California 25th.

[Sports Announcer]

I'm surprised we're not more, but it doesn't surprise me at all.

[Grant Blankenship]

That's Georgia immigration attorney Charles Cook. Cook says that's because for Georgia, the recent immigration surge is really a return to form.

[Sports Announcer]

Normal operations, normal detentions, occasional larger group pickups at a job site. None of that is unusual dating back to the Clinton administration.

[Grant Blankenship]

Neither unusual nor illegal. What's new is Georgia's cooperation with federal immig. Attorney Samantha Hamilton says the engine behind that cooperation has a name.

[Samantha Hamilton]

So in 2024, the Georgia General assembly passed a law called the Georgia Criminal.

[Grant Blankenship]

Alien Track and Report act, also known as HB 1105. Under federal law, local cooperation with immigration officers is optional. Under HB 1105, Georgia Law enforcement are mandated to cooperate to some extent. About a third of Georgia arrests appear to be from local law enforcement turning people over to ICE.

[Samantha Hamilton]

I think it is working as intended. HB 1105 is also maybe the main reason why Georgia has not looked necessarily quite like Minneapolis or Chicago or la, where these like massive performative raids are.

[Grant Blankenship]

Happening, Vice President J.D. vance has said. You're only seeing what he calls chaotic ICE raids where local officials fight federal law enforcement. And Charles Cook says Georgia is not fighting.

[Sports Announcer]

There's no need for ICE to stir up the communities here.

[Grant Blankenship]

Only about 10% of the immigration arrests in Georgia through October 2025 are listed as so called custodial arrests, aka ICE in the streets, getting people themselves. The biggest source of ICE success in Georgia are arrests recorded as something called non detained docket.

[Samantha Hamilton]

SAMANTHA hamilton, they're on the non detained docket. It means that they are in removal proceedings but they're not detained, meaning people.

[Grant Blankenship]

Who have immigration cases are known to the system but who are living out here in the world.

[Samantha Hamilton]

A lot of people are being detained at their, at their check ins or.

[Grant Blankenship]

When they go to immigration court. But Samantha Hamilton says that's no less traumatic than being taken in the street.

[Samantha Hamilton]

The act of, you know, someone being snatched from their family like, you know, disappeared for hours, you know, not knowing like where they were going to be taken like that is also like an act of violence.

[Sports Announcer]

Charles Cook, man I talked to yesterday, was picked up with his wife who's just becoming a resident, his kids who are citizens, his grandkids are citizens who has committed no crime other than working. That's life destroying, that's family destroying even.

[Grant Blankenship]

Say Cook in Hamilton, when we can't see it. For GPB News, I'm Grant blankenship in.

[Peter Biello]

Making GPB's Chase McGee contributed to this story. Georgia State University students held a walkout today to protest federal immigration raids across the U.S. gPB's Amanda Andrews has more from the event.

[Amanda Andrews]

About 100 students gathered in the cold at Georgia State University Library Plaza for the protest. It comes in response to ICE fatally shooting and killing Minnesota mom Renee Goode in her car in Minnesota. Speakers at the protest focused on the importance of unity, education and collective action. Logan Castillo is a freshman at gsu. He says protests bring people out of.

[Peter Biello]

Online bubbles, especially with social media nowadays. It feels like no one cares and it feels like extremism is simply so rampant and it feels like common sense is just lost. I believe that these showings, that showing and getting together with all these people shows that there is still decency.

[Amanda Andrews]

Protests also took place at three other universities and two high schools in the Atlanta metro area. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews, a.

[Peter Biello]

Mexican national died earlier this month while in ICE custody at a detention facility in Lovejoy, Georgia. Heber Sanchez Dominguez died January 14th at the Robert A. Dayton detention facility in Clayton County. The Mexican consulate in Atlanta says officials there have contacted the man's family ICE says his cause of death is under investigation. The facility is privately owned by Clayton county and operated by the for profit prison company Geo Group. This marks the first death in ICE custody in Georgia this year and the fifth nationwide in 2026. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is asking state lawmakers to restore anti hunger funding cut by the federal government, according to the current Kemp's budget proposal seeks $46 million to replace lost federal support for the Supplemental Nutrition assistance program, or SNAP, which serves more than 1 in 10 Georgians. The cuts stem from the legislation signed by President Trump last July that reduced federal support for state snap staff from 50% to 25%. The money would help pay the salaries of more than 3,000 caseworkers who administer the program. Georgia will participate in a federal school vouchers tax program. Governor Kemp made the announcement today. The program gives taxpayers a $1,700 tax credit if they donate to a K12 scholarship granting organization. Speaker of the House John Burns says he supports the program.

[Grant Blankenship]

This means more resources will flow directly to students who need them the most, creating more opportunities and empowering more families in our state to make the best educational decisions for themselves and their children.

[Peter Biello]

The federal program is separate from the Georgia Promise Scholarship, which provides Georgia students in low performing public schools a $6500 scholarship to attend private school, according to the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The ongoing La Nina system is coming to an end. GPB's Chase McGee has more on what overall weather conditions might look like this year.

[Chase McGee]

The US has gone back and forth between La Ninas and neutral conditions for the last few years, bringing warmer and drier than average winters. Pam Knox is the director of the UGA Weather Network. She says we could be moving towards an El Nino for the first time in years.

[Peter Biello]

We are likely to see the jet stream come and park over us, which means more rain, more clouds and cooler temperatures just because we're not getting as much sunshine.

[Chase McGee]

Knox says the end of La Nina could bring some relief to Georgia's agriculture industry since the state has been pretty dry since August of last year. That'll depend on how much rain we get in these neutral conditions before April 1, the start of the growing season. For GPB news, I'm Chase McGee.

[Peter Biello]

A massive weather front could bring freezing rain, snow and ice to some parts of north and central Georgia this weekend. Governor Brian Kemp says it is never too early to start preparing for severe weather. We'll be prepared treating roads, having teams ready. You know, hopefully we get snow and not ice. But you know, Director Lamb, the rest of our team is on it. Icy conditions can inhibit travel and cause power outages, Kemp says. Georgia Emergency Management is monitoring the situation and we'll have more details later in the week. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will attend U.S. supreme Court's oral arguments tomorrow in a case involving the attempted firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook. That's according to the Associated Press. It's an unusual show of support by the central bank chair. The high court is considering whether President Donald Trump can fire Cook, who has Georgia ties, in an unprecedented attempt by the White House to remove an official appointed by former President Joe Biden. Property tax increases on Georgia homeowners could be limited to the inflation rate under a new bill introduced by state Senate Republicans. The bill would include limits for taxes for education, this after most school systems decided against capping property tax hikes last year. About 71% of Georgia's 180 school systems voted last year to reject the cap as allowed by state law. This year's bill would change that law and prevent school systems from opting out of the cap. Republican supporters of the measure say it will provide relief for those experiencing double digit tax increases. But some opponents argue that education expenses would still rise and school districts have no choice but to rely on property taxes to fund education. Lieutenant governor Burt Jones says the property tax bill is a priority for this year's legislative session. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is working on legislation to protect Georgia's struggling timber industry. House Majority Leader Mulberry Republican Chuck Fstration says the industry could receive a big tax break if the General assembly passes and voters approve an end to the sales tax on timber. He says that would cost the state government up to $18 million a year. Georgia forestry suffered heavy losses when Hurricane helene struck in 2024 and three South Georgia paper mills closed in 20.

[Sports Announcer]

20.

[Peter Biello]

Governor Brian Kemp will lead a Georgia trade mission to Belgium this week. The governor's office said today that Kemp, Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp and officials from the state Department of Economic Development will meet with leaders of Belgian companies with existing or planned operations in Georgia. Those companies include heavy equipment manufacturer jcb, which has a plant in Savannah. The state's total trade with belgium was nearly $5 billion in 2024. Savannah's historic Lucas Theatre is closed, while the theater theater deals with an infestation of bats. The Savannah College of Art and Design, which manages the 1921 landmark, said today the bats were discovered in the theater's rafters and have not caused any harm. The college said it's working with a wildlife management company to humanely remove them in compliance with state and federal wildlife protections. Performances there will be moved until the theater is safe to reopen, which could be as early as next week. Last year, SCAD completed a six month, $4 million renovation of the Lucas, a cultural icon that shut down in 1976, only to be revived in 2000. In sports, former Atlanta Braves center fielder Andrew Jones appears on track to gain election to the Baseball hall of Fame tonight. As of Monday night, Jones had been picked on 83% of ballots revealed early on Ryan Thibodeau's online vote tracker, surpassing the 75% needed for induction. Jones was a five time All Star and earned 10 Gold Gloves in 17 seasons with Atlanta and other teams. Jones also holds the World Series home run record for being the youngest player ever to hit a home run in the Fall Classic and not just once in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series. At 19 years and 184 days old, he hit two home runs in his first two World Series at bats into left field.

[Sports Announcer]

Well hit Strawberry back at the wall. Another home run for Andrew Jones.

[Peter Biello]

Another outstanding center fielder, Carlos Beltran, is also expected to make it in. The Baseball Writers association will announce the hall of Fame inductees tonight at 6 on the MLB Network. And that is a wrap on Georgia Today. Thanks so much for tuning in. Hope you'll come back tomorrow. Best way to remember to do that, of course, is to subscribe to this podcast. So do that now while you're thinking about it and you won't miss a thing. If you want to check out updates to these stories or find out what's new, go to gpb.org news and if you've got feedback for us or want to let us know about something happening in your community, send us an email. The address is Georgia todaypb.org I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We will see you tomorrow.