The below letter to the editor was published in the Dalton ( Georgia) Citizen newspaper on July 12, 2007 in response to this: “A LAME HAMMER: JIMMY ESPY” from the executive editor of that paper, Mr. Jimmy Espy. I have added some hyperlinks to educate the reader.

LOCAL AUTHORITIES HAVE AUTHORITY TO ACT

According to a 2002 finding from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, the inherent authority of local police to make immigration arrests is quite clear.

The local authority to enforce immigration laws is also outlined in the 2006 “State and Local Police Enforcement of federal Immigration Laws: A Tool Kit for Advocates” published by the National Council of La Raza, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Mexican Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Immigration Forum and the National Immigration Law Center.

None of which can be accused of being any part of some local “Send ‘em all back to Mexico Club”.

Section 287 g of the1996 Immigration and Nationality Act allows for federal training to expand the existing and inherent authority of local police – in the course of their normal daily duties – to act as multipliers for the federal government to punish violators of American immigration law.

Jurisdictions which have taken advantage of the training, including Mecklenburg County North Carolina, report that not only does the expanded authority serve to get criminal illegal aliens off the street, but also as a deterrent to more illegal newcomers moving into the community.

Most Americans regard fewer illegals in their communities as a good thing.

Sheriff Neil Warren of Cobb County, Georgia has recently taken advantage of the training and has graduated six deputies who now can access federal data bases to learn the immigration status of individuals who come through his jail system.

He is the first law enforcement officer in Georgia to take advantage of the federal tool.

The training is available, with DHS approval, to all local law enforcement. The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB 529) only mandates that Georgia State Police be trained.

Most Georgians hope this happens sooner, rather than later.

The Georgia law, SB 529 is being copied in states across the nation and the intended effects – making Georgia less hospitable to illegal aliens and illegal employers – are being seen even now.

Georgians paying attention can hear the howls from the profiteering illegal alien lobby that illegals are liquidating their assets, and preparing to leave Georgia for friendlier states…including Mexico.

While this may represent a “lame hammer” to some, it is important to note that the crisis caused by our intentionally unsecured borders did not happen overnight and cannot be solved overnight.

Attrition of the illegal population through enforcement of existing laws will take some time.

Open borders in a welfare state is a very bad idea…unless one is directly profiting from the taxpayer subsidized labor and those who have packed our emergency rooms and schools, lowered our wages and made English an optional language in Georgia.

Mexico has it right: That sovereign nation uses its military to secure its own borders and deports more people each year than we do. While it may rile a few smug newspaper editors and the illegal alien/open borders lobby, most Americans, including this one, think these are good ideas and recognize the obvious: Enforcement works.

D.A. King
Marietta, Ga.

King is president of the Marietta-based non-profit Dustin Inman Society, which is actively opposed to illegal immigration. On the Web: www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org