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MEDIA ADVISORY 31 January 2011

The Dustin Inman Society
www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org
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3595 Canton Rd. A-9/337
Marietta, Ga. 30066
Contact: D.A. King DA@TheDustinInmanSociety.or g

Announcing the Dustin Inman Society’s pro-enforcement “PICK A SIDE PROJECT”

CAMPAIGN TO MONITOR SUPPORT FOR GEORGIA ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION

HB 87 – the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011” Rep. Matt Ramsey

Dustin Inman Society president D.A. King announced today that DIS has begun a grassroots “PICK A SIDE PROJECT” to encourage every Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives to sign on to HB 87, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011” as a cosponsor in support of the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Matt Ramsey.

Established in 2005 with personal funds, the Dustin Inman Society proudly enjoys the support of thousands of multi-ethnic, working-class, voting Georgians who look for a better life in every district and county in Georgia. With the additional volunteer assistance of many members of various Tea Party groups, civic organizations and other pro-enforcement citizens, the goal will be to contact each state House member multiple times and request they sign on to HB 87 during the coming week with phone calls, email and visits to Gold Dome offices.

“Illegal immigration is a crime that costs Georgia innocent lives, jobs, benefits and is making a mockery of our rule of law while it drains our budget and endangers our common language” said D.A. King. “Even the least aware observer can see that the crisis is a direct result of illegal employment and a lack of political will to protect everyday, taxpaying Georgians. Many powerful special interest groups will attempt to defeat or gut this bill. We will record who is on the side of We the People.”

The group says Rep. Matt Ramsey’s bill is a reasonable, and completely constitutional, legal and giant step forward in attacking illegal immigration and illegal employment. “Georgia led the way in solving the illegal immigration problem on the state level in 2006. This important legislation builds on existing law, both federal and state. The people have a right to know which legislators will show the courage and leadership to join Matt Ramsey and sign on to his bill. HB 87 has all the right enemies, including the ACLU and GMA” King went on.

King also noted that there is no limit to the number of Representatives that are allowed to co-sign a bill and that his group will be tracking vocal support, cosigners and votes on HB 87 as part of a rating and voters guide for the 2012 state elections.

The “PICK A SIDE” project will continue on illegal immigration related legislation during the General Assembly session. Volunteers who want to help should contact King through the DIS Website or facebook page

HB 87 is scheduled for a first hearing (House Judiciary) on Friday, February 4, 2011.

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Named for a sixteen year-old Woodstock, Georgia youth who lost his life to our unsecured borders, the Dustin Inman Society is pro-enforcement on American immigration and employment laws.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

July 8, 2010

Illegal immigration costs US $100B, Georgia $2.4B
HERE

HERE

REPOST

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE 2009 (released January, 2010) WESTAT REPORT ON E-VERIFY HERE

HERE

Insider Advantage Georgia – a subscription Website

(Note: The below is re-posted here with permission. We are gratfeul to IAG and editor Gary Reese IAG Homepage HERE)

Immigration fight could wound both parties
Gary Reese
Editor

January262011

The only certain thing about potential passage of an “Arizona-style” immigration law in Georgia is that it would probably doom the Democratic Party to further irrelevance. The media focus and the inevitable, further polarization on the issue of illegal immigration will likely cause liberal and conservative voters to close ranks even more around their political own. That can’t be good for Democrats, who now hold no statewide elective offices, and who strain to muster enough strength to matter in the General Assembly.

State Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, on Wednesday filed a bill that mimics the internationally known law that passed in Arizona in 2010. Among other things, Ramsey’s bill would require law enforcement officers to try to determine the immigration status of a suspect if an officer has “reasonable suspicion” that the person is an illegal immigrant; would require private employers to use a federal database (E-Verify) to check the eligibility of new employees; would require Georgia residents to provide proper documentation when applying for public benefits; and would provide “incentives” to encourage Georgia law-enforcement agencies to partner with federal immigration-enforcement agencies.

None can know how this will end. Even if the business lobby can be soothed by supporters of the bill and it passes into law, the federal government almost certainly would sue to overturn the law on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. Key provisions of the Arizona bill have been overturned by the courts. So again, the only certainty appears to be the political fallout from the coming effort to enact the bill into law.

Reflexive, passionate opposition to the bill and its supporters has already started. The AJC offered opinion on Wednesday that passage of one of the bill’s provision would make people hesitant to speak to any stranger, and would put commercial bus drivers in jeopardy of breaking the law if they unwittingly transported illegals here. El Nuevo Georgia, a Spanish-language publication, featured in a recent edition a photo of Gov. Nathan Deal that was doctored to make him look like Adolph Hitler. Deal has said he would be likely to sign into law legislation similar to Ramsey’s bill.

The public-relations strategy of Ramsey and supporters of the bill is to portray illegal immigrants as taking jobs away from legal Georgia residents. Georgia’s unemployment hovers around 10 percent.

Ramsey says his bill has been carefully written to avoid the potential problems with such laws in other states that have left them vulnerable to lawsuits, and to opposition from businesses and public safety officials, some of whom say such laws are too expensive and burdensome for proper enforcement.

D.A. King, Georgia’s nationally known pro-enforcement immigration activist, commented on Ramsey’s bill in his characteristically blunt style: “Hooray for [Ramsey’s] courage! I am confident his bill will pass into law. If it is actually enforced, it will help protect jobs for Georgians and go a long way towards encouraging illegal aliens to migrate out of Georgia. … We are lucky to have a governor who campaigned with promises to support and sign exactly this sort of legislation. All eyes should be trained on the sources of opposition to Ramsey’s legislation,” he said.

Don’t look for nearly as much national media focus on Georgia as was trained on Arizona over passage of its own immigration reform law. Unlike Arizona, Georgia is not a border state, and its Latino community – much of it underground – is not the open political force it is out West. And while Arizona was a pathfinder on trying to more effectively police illegal immigration, Georgia is only one of a number of states that is playing “me-too” with Arizona. National media focus likely will be more intense in places like California, where a try at passing such a law is going to jeopardize Republican political clout just it could endanger Democratic prowess in Georgia.

Perhaps the most interesting political theater in Georgia will be to watch the GOP caucus at the Gold Dome. Some media have been floating the idea that there is a rift among social conservative Republicans and their party-mates who are interested more in fiscal and economic conservatism. The consensus among lawmakers and lobbyists IAG talks to is that this media model of a philosophical divide might be too neatly portrayed.

We may be about to find out. If the business lobby feels that the onus of enforcement of illegal immigration is going to fall unfairly on it, Ramsey’s or similar bills might be imperiled. After all, if Ramsey’s bill becomes law, won’t the new requirements for increased enforcement responsibilities for businesses constitute more “regulation,” and in an ailing economy? Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle expressed just these sentiments this week to a large audience of businessmen and –women at a breakfast hosted by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

On Wednesday, the Chamber’s Joselyn Baker said, “While we haven’t had a chance to review the bill, we are watching this issue closely to make sure that what is ultimately passed does not place unreasonable burdens onto business, in particular with regard to enforcement. Our hope is that employers are provided with uniform standards to follow and that those who make good-faith efforts to follow the law will be indemnified.”

The key may be the governor. If he stands foursquare behind a new, comprehensive law, it may be hard for conservative lobbies to resist passage.

Agribusiness leaders in Georgia also have expressed concern about cracking down on illegal immigration. Many say they are afraid a law like Ramsey’s proposed one would badly crimp their supply of field labor. But D.A. King insists that isn’t so.

“The H2A Ag workers visa is being treated as a secret by the media at large. It shouldn’t be. With the H2A visa, agriculture employers nationwide, including Georgia, can import an unlimited number of foreign [agriculture] workers who are trying to obey the rules and feed their families,” said King.

All this should make for a spicy stew of back-and-forth politics at the Capitol over the coming weeks.

More than 243,000 employers representing more than 834,000 worksites currently use E-Verify. On average, 1,000 new employers enroll each week. In FY 2010, the E-Verify Program ran more than 16 million queries.

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Georgia House of Representitives

Guest Editorial

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: J.D. Easley

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

john.easley@house.ga.go v

Rep. Ramsey to Introduce “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011”

By State Representative Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City)

There is no country in the world more welcoming to immigrants than the United States of America. While we offer immigrants an opportunity to improve their employment, standard of living, and personal freedoms, perhaps the greatest opportunity we provide is a chance for immigrants to join the American melting pot of cultures and become American. Only in America does the stranger become, not simply a permanent resident, but one of us; every bit as American as the descendant of a Mayflower pilgrim.

With this great privilege, however, comes responsibility. The most basic responsibility, shared by us all, is to obey the law. The rule of law is the keystone that holds together our orderly society. Unfortunately, it is clear that we have experienced a complete breakdown of America’s immigration law.

Though long ignored by Washington, Georgia literally cannot afford to ignore the economic burden created by our unsecure borders. The economic downturn caused Georgia’s unemployment to rise to record highs and state revenues to plummet to new lows. We continue to see huge reductions to every segment of our state budget, meaning state services are stretched thinner than ever before. School classrooms are more crowded, our healthcare system is at its limits, transportation infrastructure is overburdened and our law enforcement community is working feverishly to do more work with fewer resources. It would be patently irresponsible not to address the issues posed by Georgia’s estimated 400,000- plus illegal aliens.

With this in mind and after a great deal of study the members of the Special Committee on Immigration Reform are introducing the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011.” This legislation includes numerous common-sense reforms aimed at addressing the social and economic consequences in Georgia resulting from the federal government’s inability to secure our nation’s borders.

This legislation will require the use of the federal E-Verify system by private employers in this state. This is a common sense step towards ensuring that available job opportunities are afforded only to our legal residents and that employers stay within existing law.

The legislation will also protect citizens from an unlawful burden on taxpayer-funded services by requiring the use of only secure and verifiable identification documents for any official purpose, including the dispensation of public benefits. Further, it will provide greater incentives for law enforcement agencies to apply for participation in federal partnerships that provide for faster and more efficient identification and transfer of illegal aliens.

In addition, the bill provides important new tools for law enforcement officers and provides them greater latitude in handling immigration issues during a lawful stop or detention. The bill also creates criminal penalties for any individual that encourages an illegal alien to come to Georgia or that transports or harbors an illegal alien once they arrive.

This is not an exercise in scapegoating. Our nation’s illegal immigration crisis ultimately represents a failure of government. The federal government’s failure to secure our borders serves as an open invitation for illegal immigration. The employers who encourage and reward illegal immigration are certainly not blameless. Make no mistake: those here illegally did not act alone. However, violation of the law cannot be simply ignored, particularly when the enormous costs of those violations weighs so heavily on Georgia taxpayers during these difficult economic times.

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Representative Matt Ramsey represents the citizens of District 72, which includes portions of Fayette County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2007, and was elected by the House Majority Caucus to serve as their Caucus Vice-Chairman in 2010.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia to experiment with E-Verify

Georgia’s new labor commissioner is asking for federal funding to start investigating whether government agencies and contractors here are complying with state laws targeting illegal immigrants. — Commissioner Mark Butler plans to use the money to do at least 100 random audits and post the results on www.open.georgia.gov…

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Macon Telegraph
Sunday, January 23, 2011

D.A. King
Opinion

Editor’s note: A similar version of this essay was recently posted on the subscription Website, Insider Advantage Georgia.

There is currently much consternation and hand wringing over the fact that the Georgia legislature may actually move to protect jobs by clamping down on illegal hiring with the no-cost federal E-Verify system. But a key component of the story is not widely known.

The argument du jour from the usual suspects opposed to enforcement is that Georgia would somehow lose its agriculture industry if we comply with the federal law making employment of illegal aliens well, you know…illegal.

While the media has faithfully reported on the agriculture angle, the existence of the legal alternative to continuing to hire black-market farm laborers who have escaped capture at our borders has so far eluded mention.

It is something called the H2A agricultural worker visa.

This agricultural program establishes lawful means for agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring an unlimited number (no ceiling!) of temporary foreign workers into the United States.

But the grateful, legal, temporary workers looking for a better life must be treated with dignity and respect. Employers must provide free housing that meets lawful safety and health standards and provide workers’ compensation insurance to workers at no cost to the worker.

The wage for H2A workers must be the same as that for U.S. workers. The rate must also be at least as high as the applicable prevailing wage rate the wage.

The employer must provide either three meals a day to each worker or furnish free and convenient cooking and kitchen facilities for workers to prepare their own meals. If meals are provided, then the employer may charge each worker a certain amount per day for the three meals.

These requirements obviously make hiring the more “flexible” and desperate illegal labor considerably more profitable. And there is little fear of federal punishment.

An H2A visa is usually issued for a period of one year, and can be extended by two one-year extensions for a maximum of three years. Then the temporary workers must return to their home country – making them poor prospects for creating a resentful “oppressed” and “victimized” political constituency willing to march in American streets demanding legalization.

The concept that illegal workers are integral in, or necessary for, Georgia’s largest industry is complete … fertilizer.

Readers may want to pass the H2A facts on to their state lawmakers and remind them that illegal immigration is a direct result of illegal employment.

And that with E-Verify and courageous vigilance, we have the tools to stop illegal hiring.

D.A. King is a nationally recognized authority on illegal immigration and president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which advocates for enforcement of immigration and employment laws.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/01/23/1419306.html#ixzz1BpqjPAb4