Illegal aliens protest borders in Atlanta, January, 2016 – photo DIS

 

“The Atlanta march was one of the more than 700 planned to take place across the country as progressive organizations asked people to take to the streets to express their concern with the family-separation policy. Although President Donald Trump has signed an executive order ending the policy, children remain in detention centers and apart from their families.”

From a June 30, 2018 story linked here.

Partial history of pressure here.

The AJC Business section recently brought us a story (Minimum wage workers in crisis, June 14) on t – . It seems that there is nowhere in the U.S. these low-wage workers can afford so much as a two-bedroom apartment. http://epaper.ajc.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?appid=2870&artguid=403a2ba6-375b-48f8-9a82-851d07785940

Voters who express knee-jerk support for increasing already too-high immigration levels and another amnesty for illegal aliens should understand that the natural laws of supply and demand also apply to immigration, the labor force and the housing market.

The undeniable reality is that that more workers mean lower wages and more demand for housing. It is comical to watch clueless young hamburger-flippers march for a $15 an hour wage one day and for open borders the next – on orders from political organizers who claim to be advocates for America’s downtrodden poor.

We should return to the lower immigration levels of the 1980’s.

Sue Lanier King

Bill Torpy, photo AJC

AJC

Letters

June 8, 2018

Torpy dead wrong on his immigration conclusion

A recent column by the AJC’s Bill Torpy on the front of the Metro section falsely referred to me as an “anti-immigration activist.” The widely known truth is that for the last 15 years I have proudly fought for sanity in immigration and enforcement of American immigration laws. That effort is easily and succinctly described as “pro-enforcement.”

For the record – yet again – I am not “anti-immigration” any more than the folks at Mothers Against Drunk Driving are “anti-driving.” Neither is my adopted sister, who is an immigrant.

In today’s media, the angry leftists who scream in American streets waving placards that literally demand an end of immigration enforcement are usually described as “civil rights” or “immigrant rights” groups. Never the obvious “anti-enforcement” groups.

A majority of Americans – including millions of immigrants – support honoring our rich tradition of immigration with the unapologetic enforcement of our very liberal immigration laws. The fact that media writers intentionally and deceptively depict us as being “anti-immigration” is an illustration of the inherent liberal bias and eagerness to smear honest Americans on the most critical issue of our time.

AJC writer Torpy seems to be “anti-accuracy.”

D.A. KING, MARIETTA, PRESIDENT, THE DUSTIN INMAN SOCIETY

Here.

Bill Torpy, photo AJC

AJC
November 9, 2017

Torpy at Large: The real reason Casey Cagle is on Decatur’s case

Lt. Governor Casey Cagle this week again tore into Decatur, alleging that the liberal bastion is a hideaway — no, more like a sanctuary — for immigrants who have entered this country without legal permission.

–> Cagle filed a complaint with something called the Immigration Enforcement Review Board, a kangaroo court created by the state to give anti-immigration activist D.A. King something to do.

The Lt. Gov’s beef with the city is a Decatur police manual that says the cops aren’t supposed to turn over people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless there’s a judicial warrant to hold them.

In essence, Decatur is saying police will hang onto people they stop if they are wanted for something — an active warrant for fraud, burglary, not showing up to traffic court, etc. — but they won’t throw the person into the slammer on behalf of ICE simply if there’s a suspicion that they sneaked across the border without U.S. blessing.

Last year, Candidate Trump said he wanted to get rid of the “bad hombres” coming to our country, and Old Casey is deputizing himself in that roundup. In his correspondence, Cagle goes all law-and-order on this matter, talking about murders and dope dealing, and even sex cases.

Cagle’s complaint states that “sanctuary policies create sanctuaries for criminals,” and that he wants to “ensure that every criminal illegal alien encountered by our law enforcement officers is arrested, transferred to federal custody and deported.”

“Criminal illegal alien” might mean that an immigrant is peddling meth or gang banging. Or it might mean he’s a dude who waded across the Rio Grande, cuts your lawn and has his paperwork messed up.

In his complaint, Cagle notes that Georgia prisons house 1,316 convicts whom ICE wants to see after they get released. Sounds bad, right?

But let’s do some math. There are an estimated 400,000 unauthorized immigrants in Georgia. Divide that number into 1,316 and you’ll find that 0.33 of 1 percent of such immigrants are “bad hombres.”

Compare that to the criminality of our local yokels. Georgia has a population of 10.3 million, of which 52,847 are prisoners (after subtracting the 1,316). That means that 0.51 of 1 percent of Georgia’s residents are muy malo. Or, put another way, Americans are more likely to be convicts than the border jumpers.

+ U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in action in metro Atlanta: ICE Atlanta deputy field office director Joe Sifuentez (left) and photo JOHN SPINK/THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in action in metro Atlanta: ICE Atlanta deputy field office director Joe Sifuentez (left) and … Read More
In fact, a study by the libertarian Cato Institute says native-born Americans are three times as likely to be locked up for crimes as illegal immigrants.

It makes sense. If you sneak over here to improve your life, then you’ll want to walk quietly and not stir up too much trouble.

Decatur is a safe city, in the top 10 for mid-sized Georgia towns last year. So I’m not sure that Casey was worried about the population there.

My guess is he’s more worried about the population who will be voting next year in the Republican primary. Cagle is running to remove the Lt. from his title and is up against a few other rough political hombres in the race.

One of them, state Sen. Michael Williams, is crazy-desperado tough. At any given moment Williams is likely to be cradling a firearm for the cameras or extolling the virtues of weaponry. I’m hearing his bumper stickers will say: “A bump stock in every glove box.”Candidates like Williams frighten Cagle, who is the front-runner and heir apparent. Williams isn’t frightening because he can win. No, he’s scary because he can make Cagle appear weak and allow one of the other candidates, such as former state Sen. Hunter Hill or Secretary of State Brian Kemp, to pass him by.

Therefore, there’s dependable Decatur, the brightest blue dot on the Georgia map, which hangs there like a piñata waiting to get whacked by Candidate Casey.

The Republican base loves it when the Libs get smacked around, and Cagle is no doubt thinking, “Why not me?”

Why not, indeed? These days, if a GOP front-runner seems to be a bit mild, then he becomes Jeb Bush, dazed and flattened by the angry hordes who come to the polls. Casey’s not going to let that happen, hence his campaign against Decatur.

Cagle also lets Decatur know there’s some funding that could get cut — a little friendly threat.

According to his office, Decatur got $143,389 in state funds during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016. Also, in that same fiscal year, Decatur got $1,329,853 in federal awards administered by the state. That’s a lot of bike lanes!

Decatur, population 22,000, is currently a hot town, a place with a bustling downtown that other areas envy. City Commission meetings are well attended and cordial, even when they discuss using eminent domain to expand a park….Read more here.

UPDATED with my reply to Torpy here.

In the below rant in which he invents a scenario, liberal AJC writer Bill Torpy refers to me as an “anti-immigration activist.” I have asked for a correction. I think Torpy is a flake…

Bill Torpy, photo AJC

AJC – front page of the Metro news section

June 4, 2018

https://www.ajc.com/news/local/torpy-large-casey-the-bat-swinging-illegals-decatur/gcrziEgzwr2BzcpZ7ZzA7O/

Torpy at Large: Casey at the bat, swinging at ‘illegals’ in Decatur

And we don’t mean immigrants who’ve come here without authorization

May 25, 2018

The GOP gubernatorial primary runoff is underway and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle can return to the important work of beating up on illegals.

I can almost see the ad where he borrows from the catchy TV commercial of his opponent, Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

After the requisite shotgun blast, Casey manfully ambles over to his monster truck and drawls, “Ah’ve got a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take ‘em home myself.”

The camera cuts away to the pickup truck bed, but it’s not filled with Latino laborers. It’s filled with Casey’s other version of illegals — tie-dyed, rainbow-coalitioned Decaturites.

“I’m gonna bring ‘em back to New York City,” he says. “Yup, I just said that.”

Gov Lite’s war with the city of Decatur will continue to amp up, as there are two more long months of campaigning to endure.

–>Last fall, with election year looming, Candidate Cagle took issue with Decatur and filed a complaint with the Immigration Enforcement Review Board, which I’ve described as an entity created by the state in 2011 to give anti-immigration activist D.A. King somewhere to file complaints.

Decatur Police Chief Mike Booker had issued a directive saying his officers were not to turn over people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless there was a valid judicial warrant to hold them — such as an active warrant for burglary or missing traffic court. The chief said it was a Fourth Amendment thing.

Casey, a veteran pol, chortled and rubbed his hands together in glee upon hearing this. He had himself a two-fer: He could appear tough on illegal immigration (hey, it worked for Trump) AND he could beat up on Decatur, the bluest burg in Georgia.

Cagle said Decatur was creating “sanctuaries for criminals.” If found “guilty” by the immigration panel, the city could be fined and lose state and federal funding, maybe a million dollars.

\

On the GOP side, candidates Casey Cagle and Brian Kemp will face a July runoff as they continue their push to become the Republican nominee for governor.

The city has fired back, calling Cagle a bully, a panderer and even a bit of a girly man, which is a real dig because the GOP primary with all its guns and trucks is a real machismo rodeo.

“He wasn’t man enough to come here today and make these allegations and maybe even put his hand up and swear under oath to answer questions,” said Decatur’s attorney, Bryan Downs, at the immigration board hearing last month.

Team Casey said he was busy that day. Besides, he had a couple of state employees man the room during the hours of testimony. A Decatur resident and attorney named Tom Stubbs took issue with that and filed an ethics complaint against Casey. He said Cagle is having state employees work on his campaign, “which is like having taxpayers paint your house or cut your grass.”

State law says complaints may be filed by any “legally registered voter.” So who filed it? Was it Citizen Casey? Gov Lite Casey? Candidate Casey?

“Trying to parse whether he acted as an official or a citizen is silliness,” Cagle campaign official Brian Robinson told me. “Of course, Casey’s campaign is going to talk about his record in office and how he has kept his promises to fight illegal immigration.

“It’s what a campaign is,” Robinson continued. “Casey isn’t just talk. He’s going to take action on illegal immigration — and the examples go back years, not months.”

Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, the leading conservative Republican for governor, and his wife Nita thank supporters at his election night watch party on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, in his hometown of Gainesville. (ccompton@ajc.com/Curtis Compton)
Another Cagle operative said ICE detainers aren’t issued for Mickey Mouse crimes: “The reality is we’re talking about homicide, armed robbery, child molestation and kidnapping and similar offenses.”

Hmm. My BS detector dinged on this one. If the bad hombres were wanted for homicide, molestation or aggravated assault, there’d be something more than an ICE detainer out for them. There’d be criminal warrants.

I called immigration attorney Dustin Baxter, who said the vast majority of ICE detainer cases he sees are for driving without a licence.

“The gang bangers and murderers are not being released,” Baxter said. “That is dog whistle politics.”

Decatur’s immigration review board hearing finally was held Tuesday, May 15 — a full six months after the complaint was filed. Four days later, and just 72 hours before the polls opened, the review board released a proposed opinion saying Decatur violated Georgia code and is a “sanctuary city.”

Three times the ruling mentioned that Decatur would even let suspected terrorists walk free.

Candidate Gov Lite cheered, saying Decatur and other cities need to clean up their act, “or else there will be serious consequences.”

Decatur attorney Downs growled, “Ridiculous!” when asked about the references to terrorism. “They stretched and twisted what the (police chief’s) memo said.” Read more here. 

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Georgia Speaker, Republican Rep. David Ralston

Atlanta Journal Constitution

READERS WRITE
April 23, 2018

Left seems to have outsize influence on GOP lawmakers

Thanks to the AJC for reporting that Republican Speaker, David Ralston, held the Georgia House in session past the midnight deadline to pass legislation for which his son was a paid lobbyist. The bill concerned state purchase and use of traffic enforcement cameras.

In contrast, ecstatic corporate-funded anti-enforcement immigration groups are taking credit for killing an anti-crime bill on which Ralston did not allow a vote.

Now as dead as Pancho Villa, SB452 mandated notification to federal immigration authorities when criminal illegal aliens are captured in Georgia and required the Department of Corrections to make public a quarterly report on the immigration status and number of non-citizens in the Georgia prison system.

House leadership had a simple explanation on the importance of immigration enforcement: “We ran out of time before we had finished all the bills that were worthwhile,” said House Majority Whip, Christian Coomer. “Other bills took priority and SB452 wasn’t called before the clock struck midnight.”

This independent conservative voter envies the GOP political connections the Left has in Georgia.

D.A. KING, MARIETTA, PRESIDENT, THE DUSTIN INMAN SOCIETY
Here.

Drivers license issued to all non-citizens in Georgia, legal status or illegal status. Photo: DDS

The AJC, in it’s “Politically Georgia” email report (and on Jim Galloway’s blog and Twitter page) gets it wrong on an amendment offered by Senator Josh McKoon (Amendment #6) to HB 673. The amendment said DDS could not issue drivers licenses and ID cards to illegal aliens that are REAL ID Act compliant, which is currently the only tier of credential issued.

It allowed for a second tier of license/ID Card for illegal aliens as per the REAL ID Act that would not be acceptable for federal ID such as boarding an airliner or entering a military base. But it could still be used for driving privileges.

AJC today:

“State Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, a candidate for secretary of state, tried the same tactic, but didn’t get the same kind of pushback.

Prabhu reports that McKoon introduced and then withdrew an amendment that would have made it harder for teens to get a court waiver to avoid having to notify their parents about an abortion.

And he unsuccessfully sought an amendment during the debate of the distracted driving bill that would keep illegal immigrants from getting a driver’s license.“

The last sentence is not accurate and will serve to further confuse lawmakers who should already understand this issue. *UPDATE: Here (below) is the copy that was inserted as a correction, but no note was made of the error or the correction. And it is still not accurate.

State Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, a candidate for secretary of state, tried the same tactic, but didn’t get the same kind of pushback.

Prabhu reports that McKoon introduced and then withdrew an amendment that would have made it harder for teens to get a court waiver to avoid having to notify their parents about an abortion.

And he unsuccessfully sought an amendment during the debate of the distracted driving bill that would have required driver’s licenses given to illegal immigrants with a protected status — i.e. DACA kids — to be distinguishable from licenses for other residents.

⭐STUDENTS! ⭐@ProPublica wants to give you $$$ to attend the conferences of @aaja @NABJ @NAHJ @najournalists and @nlgja. 20 scholarships of $700 each. Apply by April 30th! https://t.co/DmyC0mZJ1t #mediadiversity

— Lena Groeger (@lenagroeger) March 27, 2018

photo: Wiki.com

According to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s office, this perp has an ICE hold. We are checking to see if he had contact with Georgia law enforcement before he was convicted of raping this child. We call it the #HeathClark question. 

AJC
March 27, 2018

Gwinnett man convicted of molesting girl he brought from El Salvador

A Gwinnett County man has pleaded guilty to abusing a young girl starting at age 11 after bringing her and her family to the U.S. from El Salvador, the district attorney’s office said.

Victor Calderon-Rivera, 40, of Norcross, pleaded guilty to three counts of child molestation on March 16. After a trial, a jury deliberated for several hours but was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Calderon-Rivera entered his plea after the jury announced it could not come to a decision.

READ | Parents demand $10M from Gwinnett, claiming jail caused son’s death

Calderon-Rivera brought the victim, her younger sister and her mother to the U.S. in 2010, the DA’s office said. He watched the children while their mother worked. While the older sister was in bed, Calderon-Rivera got into her bed and sexually assaulted her, according to the Gwinnett DA’s office…. More here.

photo: DIS

If a pro-enforcement immigration activist attends a hearing but the Atlanta Journal Constitution Institute for Justice and Journalism on Immigration Reporting – trained reporter, Jeremy Redmon, carefully omits his presence in a news report, was he really there?  

An illegal immigration enforcement bill SB452 was heard in the Georgia House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee yesterday. Including the SPLC lobbyist, a Naomi Tsu, the room was packed full of the same crazies you see screaming in our streets against borders and immigration enforcement. Because far too many conservatives who can go to the state Capitol during the day have no idea no how their government works and are clueless  on the level of hatred the left has for normal Americans, there were only two of us available to speak in favor of the bill.

My estimate is the at least twenty anti-borders leftists spoke against the bill. My friend Ed Painter and I were the only pro-American speakers during the four-hour hearing. VIDEO.

As an aside, under the proud direction of  Rep Heath Clark the bill was gutted in the  committee, but was still passed out.

Redmon — who has me blocked on Twitter — and the AJC did a write-up of the bill and mentioned both the SPLC slime-ers and Ed Painter:

“The Southern Poverty Law Center, Project South and immigration attorney Arturo Corso raised numerous other concerns about SB 452 during Tuesday’s committee hearing.

Ed Painter, a former Whitfield County sheriff’s deputy from Dalton, spoke in favor of the original — and more stringent — version of the bill.”

But yours truly, a constant and educated critic of the AJC and Redmon was apparently not really there. We put this in the “too funny.” category.