From the Athens Banner Herald on yesterday’s press confrence for the next Congressman from the 10th District of Georgia.

Candidates stump on immigration

By Vicky Eckenrode | Morris News Service | Story updated at 10:46 PM on Thursday, April 12, 2007

ATLANTA – Anti-illegal immigration activists who were key players in pushing Georgia’s sweeping reform law last year threw their support Thursday behind state Sen. Jim Whitehead in his bid to fill late Congressman Charlie Norwood’s seat.

Whitehead, a Republican from Evans, is one of at least a dozen candidates considering running for the 10th Congressional District seat, which became vacant when Norwood died in February.

Earlier in the day, Whitehead’s supporters gathered at the state Capitol to endorse his stance on illegal immigration.

D.A. King, president of the Dustin Inman Society, who lobbied heavily last year for a state law cracking down on public benefits and employment for illegal immigrants, said he thought Whitehead’s positions matched up closely with Norwood’s.

“When we lost Charlie Norwood, both Georgia and the United States lost a very strong and courageous voice for our border security and a real solution to our illegal immigration crisis,” King said.

Whitehead said he opposes any measure giving illegal immigrants already in the country a way to stay longer and is in favor of a House bill floated last year that would have made it a felony to be in the country illegally and increased border security measures.

On Monday, President Bush called for Congress to reconsider his plan for a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the more than 12 million illegal immigrants estimated to be living in the United States.

“I am in no way going to vote for amnesty for illegal aliens,” Whitehead said when asked about his reaction to Bush’s plan.

Whitehead recently sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asking that any vote on the issue be postponed until the 10th District seat is filled by someone.

Whitehead said that according to his polling of potential voters in the district, illegal immigration is the leading issue, followed by tax reform and education. The war in Iraq trailed farther down the list, Whitehead said his poll showed.

But Whitehead is not the only Republican campaigning on a hard-line stance against illegal immigration.

Athens physician Paul Broun has sent out mailings and plans to release a new television ad highlighting the topic.

“I think it’s important to the voters of this district,” Broun said while making campaign stops Thursday. “I have not seen enough yet in the way of the federal government to secure the border.”

Broun also said he thinks Bush’s guest-worker proposal is the wrong way to go.

“We need to enforce the law that’s on the books,” he said.

Read the entire story here.