Nearly one year after Cobb County enrolled in a program intended to stop undocumented workers from obtaining employment through fraudulent means, Acworth is poised to become the first city in Cobb to take the same step.

Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood told the Marietta Daily Journal that the city is signing up for the ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers program, commonly referred to as IMAGE.

“I think it’s important,” he told the MDJ. “If you really understand this IMAGE program, it’s really a self audit, it’s voluntary, and it basically helps to ensure the fact that you are compliant and that your folks who are working for us are legal.”

During Thursday's Acworth Board of Aldermen meeting, officials are expected to adopt a policy agreeing to conduct a self audit once a year, according to the MDJ report.

Cobb entered into a similar agreement in 2012 and is awaiting IMAGE certification. Commissioners last month considered extending the same requirement to contractors who do business with the county, but voted 3-2 against the proposal.

District 1 Commissioner Helen Goreham, Acworth's representative and one of the three commissioners who voted against the ordinance, is now proposing that the county establish a committee to study illegal immigrants.

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