Cobb watches Cherokee rental debate
Proposal would stop landlords renting to illegal immigrants

By Christopher Quinn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
11/30/06

County.

The Cherokee County commissioners may vote Tuesday on an ordinance designed to punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.

The Cobb County commissioners have not discussed a similar ordinance and have no plans at this time to propose one, said Cobb spokesman Robert Quigley. If Cherokee passes an ordinance, Quigley said, Cobb probably would wait to see how it holds up in court before making any decisions.

No such proposal has surfaced for consideration by the Marietta City Council.

Meanwhile, the Cherokee County commissioners may consider more than an ordinance to punish those who rent housing to illegal immigrants Dec. 5.

The board of commissioners also will consider whether to use three federal databases and programs to check whether immigrants are here legally when they apply for public assistance, apply for jobs or run afoul of the law.

During the public hearing on the housing ordinance the commissioners held last week, Commissioners Derek Good and Karen Mahurin said they wanted the county to begin using the programs by Jan. 1.

It could be part of a multipronged plan to control illegal immigration locally, Good said

Other commissioners, who received limited information about the programs only a couple of hours before the meeting, reined in Good’s call for an immediate vote.

D.A. King, a Cobb resident and illegal immigration activist [ Note from D.A. – the AJC has a real problem with telling its readers about the Dustin Inman Society], spoke during the pubic hearing and had supplied Good with information about the programs.

He told the commissioners that using the programs would discourage illegal immigration locally, and that other governments, like Mecklenburg County, N.C., were already using them.

One program allows workers to check the legal status of those who apply for public benefits. [Note from D.A. this is the SAVE program]

One is for employers. [ Note from D.A. this is the Basic Pilot Program]

The last is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement training program that helps law-enforcement officers identify illegal immigrants. [ Note from D.A. this is 287 g ]

Read the rest from the AJC here.
We hope the Cherokee County Commissioners do the pro-American thing here.