For all of you who have e-mailed asking about the trip to the border. Yes, I will write it up soon. Honest.

For those of you who are newly signed up to help [ THANK YOU!] or missed the news, read about the trip below, from the Marietta Daily Journal.

Officials to visit Mexican border

By Amanda Casciaro
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

MARIETTA – Four Georgia lawmakers will join Cobb activist D.A. King, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, on a two-day visit to the Arizona-Mexican border for a “fact-finding mission” this week.

State Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), and state Reps. Tom Graves (R-Ranger), Martin Scott (R-Rossville), and Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville) are scheduled to meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, residents of Cochise County, Ariz., and retired federal border patrol officers beginning Tuesday.

The trip comes at the request of Rogers, who contacted King by e-mail about the expedition after finding out he would be at a legislative conference in nearby Phoenix, said King, president of the Dustin Inman Society, which lobbies against illegal immigration.

“I think if more legislators went to the border, the result would be a better understanding of why we need to pursue legislation against illegal immigration on a state level,” King said. “What I really wish is that every voter went to the border before any election.”

The expedition comes less than a month before Senate Bill 529, a measure that limits public services to illegal residents, takes effect in January. Rogers sponsored the legislation during the 2005 session and Gov. Sonny Perdue signed it into law in April.

“I hope they will understand that the federal government has refused to secure our borders,” King said of the trip, his fourth visit to the border. “I want them to see in Cochise County, Ariz., that there won’t be day labor sites. The only illegal aliens they’ll see in Cochise are the ones coming over the fence. Illegal aliens won’t stay in Cochise County because there are border patrol agents everywhere.”

Although Nogales and Naco, Ariz., both located in Cochise, are popular points of entry into the United States from Mexico, the absence of illegal immigrants proves “enforcement works,” King said.

“I want to see first hand what is really happening on our borders, both by day and night,” Graves said in a press release. “Illegal immigration has been and will continue to be an issue in the Georgia Legislature, and it’s vital that we have a full understanding of the issue, from illegal invasions to final deportation.”

The trip comes in the face of increased debate over what state and local governments can do to enforce immigration laws.

In October, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved implementation of 287g, a portion of the 1996 Immigration and Naturalization Act that gives local governments access to a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement database.

If approved for the federal program, the Cobb Sheriff’s Department will have authority to check legal status of every inmate entering the county jail.

Although the program will help identify illegal aliens in Cobb, ICE still would be responsible for deportation procedures.

The need for education is especially important now, King said.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported this year that Georgia had the highest rate of increase in the illegal resident population with a 114 percent jump from 2000 to 2005.

Arizona ranked second with a 45 percent increase.

“I applaud the Georgia lawmakers for taking the time and expense to investigate where the problem comes that they have to legislate against,” King said. “I’m very happy for them to see the federal government’s, not just failure, but refusal to secure American borders during the war on terror.”

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