‘Help me, Dad’

Harper runs from hearing

D.A. King

“Help me, Dad.” – Last words of 32-year-old Kate Steinle as she laid dying in her father’s arms after being shot by a criminal illegal alien who had been released from custody. San Francisco, July, 2015

Readers who want to use their voice in state government and make a definite difference in the safety and security of Georgia should participate in the legislative process of Senate Bill 6 under the Gold Dome. As it is written, SB 6 could prevent ‘death by illegal alien’ crimes in Georgia and would be a certain deterrent to illegal immigration here. And it would save jobs.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Georgia contains more illegal aliens than Arizona and as a state ranks seventh in that population in the nation. An estimate from 2010 was that illegal immigration costs Georgians about $2.4 annually.

SB 6 must pass out of the General Assembly’s Senate Public Safety Committee - chaired by state Senator Tyler Harper (R- Ocilla) - and then see a vote by the full senate before February 29 to have a chance at becoming law. You can help.

Offered by staunch-conservative Senator Josh McKoon (R – Columbus), SB 6 contains a section that would require the GBI to make public the information it is already getting from the feds on the capture, incarceration and the release of criminal aliens. We would at least get a warning when more criminal aliens are set free in Georgia.

McKoon’s legislation also prohibits illegal aliens from becoming public school teachers, becoming lawyers or getting in line ahead of legal immigrants to receive instate tuition at Georgia taxpayer-funded universities.

The bill as originally written would have, in part, ended the current policy of rewarding illegal aliens with a Georgia drivers license.

What’s that? You didn’t know that some illegal aliens have been getting Georgia drivers licenses since 2012? They have. It goes like this: President Obama ignored congress during his 2012 re-election campaign and proclaimed a mass ‘deferred action on deportation action’ for illegal aliens who said they came here as children. Legislation aimed at that same amnesty process had failed multiple times in congress since 2001.

Called ‘DACA,’ Obama’s proclamation does not change the fact that the illegals are still illegals, according to the White House and federal law.

The DHS website makes it clear: “deferred action does not provide lawful status.” But Obama has given the deferred action recipients valid Social Security Numbers and work permits, which, according to pre-Obama Georgia law, qualifies them for a drivers license. And official Georgia photo ID cards. And many public benefits - including unemployment benefit eligibility.

It is confusing, but important to know that not all illegals with deferred action on deportation fall under the DACA scheme and visa versa. Deferred action has been around since the 1960’s but only used on a single case-by-case basis, and never intended for more than a million ‘victims of borders’ at one time. Deferred action on deportation is not found anywhere in federal law.

The thing about the organized crime of illegal immigration is that a lot of people make a great deal of money from it. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce boasted of killing a bill similar to SB 6 at the end of the 2014 session. Imagine the power of the combination of that lobby with “Big Ag,” the militant left defending potential future Democrat voters and the liberal “Big Media” and you get an idea of the current problems with even getting a first hearing on Senate Bill 6, much less a full, public vote in Atlanta.

That’s right. SB 6, pre-filed in November of 2014 has not been allowed a first hearing in Senator Harper’s committee. You can help with that.

Because of the lobbying power of Georgia business interests, the section of SB 6 that was intended to stop giving a drivers license to deferred action illegals has been modified to say that they can still drive legally, but the driving document given to them must be changed from looking almost exactly like the ones issued to Americans and legal immigrants. You know, the cards we use as ID when we vote. Or rent a car or truck. Or board an airliner. Or buy explosives.

Now, SB 6 would change illegal alien drivers licenses to a vertically oriented, brightly colored “Driver Privilege Cards” that would make it obvious that the bearer does not have lawful status. If you want to help with SB 6, my advice is to contact state Senator Tyler Harper. Pronto. His senate office phone is 404-463-5263. His fax number is 404-463-4161. His Ocilla number is 229-425-4840. His email address is Tyler.Harper@senate.ga.gov

One more thing: Illegal aliens cannot get any type of drivers license anywhere in Mexico.

Editor’s note: D.A. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society and describes himself as “pro-enforcement” on immigration. He is not a member of any political party. Facebook: The Dustin Inman Society.