Bill Torpy, photo AJC

The liberal AJC posted a head-shaker column (it was in the hard copy too) by a writer named Bill Torpy at 6:00 AM today. We love the part where Torpy suggests that if an illegal alien waded across the Rio Grande, it might mean “his paperwork is messed up.” The AJC crew turned off comment ability about noon and you can see from the small box at the top that there were three comments already made. I breezed through reading two of them this morning.

This is the liberal AJC norm. Advocating for immigration enforcement is “anti-immigration.” How original.

Torpy clearly doesn’t know much about immigration, but he can Goggle the open borders Cato Institute. This isn’t his first try at anti-enforcement immigration commentary, his first one that I know of was even better. Via Twitter I have strongly urged the caring and oh-so-tolerant Mr. Torpy to go talk to Billy and Kathy Inman about immigration enforcement several times.

My friend Billy Inman posted a Tweet aimed at Torpy today too.

So far – no interest in American families that are forever separated by the crime of illegal immigration.

You may get a paywall, but here is the headline, link and first several paragraphs:

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

by Bill Torpy – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“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…” HERE

Cherokee Tribune Ledger

Today

Local father mourns loss of son, says he has hope for future with Trump

Billy Inman hasn’t received a Father’s Day card in 17 years, after his son, Dustin, was killed when an immigrant in the country illegally drove into the family car at a red light while the Inmans were on their way to the north Georgia Mountains in 2000.

“(The years he’s been gone has) been a year longer than my son was alive,” Billy Inman said. Dustin Inman was 16 years old when he was killed.

Kathy Inman, Billy Inman’s wife, suffered a severe brain injury that’s left her in a wheelchair and requires her to visit doctors multiple times a week for her ailments, he said.

This week marks the 17th anniversary of his son’s death, he said, with little change for his wife’s medical condition and capturing the man who’s responsible, Inman said. But it also marks the anniversary of another day, when Inman said he started to see a little change in the problem he’s fought against for almost two decades.

On June 16, 2015, Inman said he sat and watched, along with other Americans, as Donald Trump announced his run for the 2016 presidential election and condemned Mexico for allowing its illegal immigrants to pour into the country.

“My mouth just flew open,” Inman said.

Illegal immigration is an issue, he said, where his concerns were ignored, despite his own experience and attempts to raise awareness.

Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, the man charged with Dustin Inman’s death, is accused of slamming his car into the Inmans in Ellijay at 60 mph and fleeing from authorities while being transported to the hospital for his own injuries. He’s believed to have fled to Mexico, Billy Inman said, and a letter Inman received from the Department of Justice last year states the Mexican government will not extradite its citizens to the United States for vehicular homicide charges.

“It’s still a problem and everybody is jumping on Trump for doing this, but this is what got him elected,” he said. “I feel it in my heart, this is what got Donald Trump elected as president of the United States.”

Every year since his son’s death, Inman said he’s spoken with politicians about illegal immigration, who always give their condolences but fail to act. Under Trump’s administration, he said he’s finally starting to see progress.

“Why did it take Donald Trump to do something about this problem?” he asked.

Inman said he understands why someone would want to come to the U.S., and sympathized that the process was too long and complicated. He has no ill will against those who come here legally and isn’t racist, he said, but the country shouldn’t be a sanctuary for those who reside here illegally.

“There’s too many people passing the buck and turning a blind eye,” he said.

When asked what people could do on a local level to help with the problem, Inman said they can speak with their vote.

“I never voted until this happened,” he said. “Because I feel like politics is a club.”

His desire for justice has connected Inman with several politicians in hopes to solve illegal immigration, Inman said. The Dustin Inman Society, a coalition formed to secure American borders and fight against illegal immigration, was named in honor of Dustin Inman and led by D.A. King.

Through his efforts, Inman said he and his wife have been invited to Washington, D.C., four times, including the inauguration for President Trump in January. However, Kathy Inman’s health was not in good condition for travel until April, he said

The Inmans visited leadership members of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including Thomas Homan, the acting director of the agency, along with seven other families whose relatives had died at the hands of illegal immigrants, Inman said.
“I think I talked with (the other families) for years on the computer and I never got to meet these people,” he said. “It was truly an honor.”

A GoFundMe account to help the Inmans with their medical bills was created in December 2016. So far, they’ve raised $3,010 of their $10,000 goal. Billy Inman said the funds have helped him pay for his wife’s caretakers, who cost somewhere between $14 to $25 an hour while he himself only makes $16 an hour and works three days a week as a truck driver.

“I want to make some sort of normal life,” he said. “I try to make the best of my life and thank God and make it to the end of the month.”

The last Father’s Day present he received from his son is a Jeff Foxworthy “You might be a redneck …” T-shirt, Inman said, which hangs on a wall in his home. His dreams, he said, of camping up in the north Georgia mountains and teaching grandchildren to hunt and fish are shot.

“I feel like such a failure,” he said for not being able to capture Dustin’s killer.

The only thing that will put this issue to rest, is the capture of Harrell-Gonzalez, Inman said. He’s been unable to turn the next page of his life, he said, and move on.

“When the man is held accountable, I can turn this page,” he said. “… I wish what happened to my son wouldn’t happen to anyone else.”

To make a contribution to help the Inmans afford their medical expenses, visit www.gofundme.com/help-billy-and-kathy-inman.

—– Original Message —–
From: “Matthew Engebretson”
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 6:59 PM
Subject: Contact from TheDustinInmanSociety.org
Contact
The following person contacted us at TheDustinInmanSociety.org on May 11,
2011:
Name:
Matthew D. Engebretson
Address:
El Dorado Hills, CA
Phone number:
Email address:
mdengebretson@yahoo.
“Matthew Engebretson” Comments:

Obvioulsy I’m not from Georgia, so I understand if you don’t think it’s worth the time to reply. I happene dupon your site in connection to a news article on immigration. First, I think Mr. Inman’s death, and the injuries suffered by his parents, are tragic. My heart goes out to them and their family. Second, other than the driver’s illegal status, I find myself confused as to what this has to do with the “immigration issue”.

I’m not being sarcastic – it seems to me that the issue here is that the guy who hit them was a bad driver. Does the fact that he was here illegally make him a worse driver? Would Mr. Inman’s death have been less tragic had it been caused by a legal immigrant or someone born in the US? I could understand the connection if Mr. Inman had been killed in some activity related to illegal immigration (i.e. killed by someone smuggling drugs or illegal workers into the country, etc.) but this just seems like a sad and tragic traffic accident, where the bad driver just happened to be an illegal immigrant.

Note: I’m not pro-illegal immigration in any way. I think the immigration laws should be enforced and, on many points, agree with your organization.

—– Original Message —–
From: “D.A. King”
To: “Matthew Engebretson”
Cc: “Billy Inman”
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 1:54 PM
Subject: Re: Contact from TheDustinInmanSociety.org

My three minute reply – for about the millionth time to such questions

Thanks for writing..again.

Many of us who think it through, including Dustin’s parents, understand that if the feds secured the border as is required by the constitution and had stopped the illegal alien from entering our nation that Dustin would now be a 27 yr-old man looking for a better life in his own country. Because the fugitive who caused his death would have been in a different country…with me so far?

Or if the illegal’s employer had any fear of punishment for hiring him, illegally, he would not have been here to kill 16 year-old Dustin and put his mom, Kathy, in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Or if N. Carolina had not knowingly given illegal aliens, including Dustin’s killer, a driver license he may not have been able to avoid detection by police officers. He was stopped just days before the crash. Or if the police who stopped him were allowed then to check and report his illegal immigration status maybe he would have been looking for a better life back in good old Mexico. A nation that does not allow illegals to get a DL, uses its military to try to secure its border and has an efficient system of interior enforcement.

Without apology or debate.

Nice to know you regard the crime of illegal immigration as a negative. It is not unrelated to most other issues.

Yes, “tragic.” Most of us can easily hook this up to “the immigration issue.”

I’ll pass your question on to Billy and Kathy Inman.

You may want to read this too. http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=37610#ixzz1KTPjdrio

dak

Mission statement and information about The Dustin Inman Society

“It is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.” Barbara Jordan

The Dustin Inman Society is was founded in 2005 and – at his parent’s request – named in memory of a Georgia youth who lost his life to the crime of illegal immigration. We are proud to represent and be supported by a broad-based coalition of Americans of every race, ethnicity and description – including many immigrants.

We believe the fundamental duty of the federal government is to enforce federal laws, to secure American borders and protect the American people from unauthorized and uninspected border crossings.

America’s unsecured borders and the resulting illegal immigration represents a clear and present danger to our national security and public safety.

We recognize that immigration into the United States is not a universal right and must be reasonable, sustainable, regulated and serve the national interest.

We reject the agenda held by many that open borders and the free flow of people into the United States is in the interest of the nation or its sovereignty.

It is our opinion that use of the term “immigrants” should be limited to describing individuals who join the American family lawfully. And there is more to being an American – or an immigrant – than having escaped capture by American Border Patrol Agents or failing to keep the promise of departure from the USA when an official visa expires.

Like the majority of Americans throughout our history, we know that there is a distinct and much envied “American culture.” We insist that English be the common and official language of the United States of America and that immigrants assimilate into our culture and language.

As it has proven to encourage and expand illegal immigration and employment, the Dustin Inman Society is actively opposed to any repeat of the 1986 legalization program for illegal aliens present in the U.S.

We further recognize that the crime of illegal immigration severely reduces job opportunities for American workers and lowers wages for the poorest Americans. Also that state and local governments not only have the right, but the duty, to comply with all existing law and use all available legal tools to protect their citizens from the ravages of illegal immigration.

“On the ‘totem pole of blame’ for the organized crime that is illegal immigration, the federal government is highest and most derelict, then the criminal employers who lure most illegals here. Next irresponsible state and local governments and lastly the aliens themselves. Not many can blame anyone for wanting to live and work in the United States, but we cannot allow the entire world to migrate here. That is why we have immigration laws,” says D.A. King, DIS founder.

Our unequivocal mission is to end illegal immigration, illegal employment, the illegal administration and granting of Public Benefits and services through the equal application of existing laws. Additionally, we are proud to successfully advocate for and offer expert, experienced advice on crafting state and local legislation aimed at impeding illegal immigration.

Because of very limited resources, the Dustin Inman Society is primarily focused on the state of Georgia, where we are based. We are very proud of our success in assisting in the passage of numerous pieces of state and local legislation that have proven to discourage illegal immigration in Georgia.

We are particularly proud of our success in our now more than three-year education program and public advocacy for the proliferation of 287(g) agreements between County Sheriffs in Georgia and the federal government.

We have no doubt that our work has saved many American lives.

In our patriotic endeavors, we are also proud to have all the right enemies.
Currently, the below Americans make-up our Board of Advisors:

D.A. King (President) – listen to audio interview on NPR, February, 2009.
Billy Inman
Kathy Inman
Inger Eberhart
Fred Elbel
Francisco Jorge
Lupe Moreno
Everett Robinson

last post on January 20, 2009

Warrior against illegals lives, breathes the issue – D.A. King in the AJC – March, 2006 – I try to post this a few times a year to help Jerry

Posted by D.A. King at 5:47 pm [Email the author] [Print This Article] [Email This Article] Edit this article

Warrior against illegals lives, breathes the issue

By Carlos Campos, Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 27, 2006

Cobb man quit job to become full-time activist

Carlos Campos – Staff

Monday, March 27, 2006

CORRECTION: 03/29/06, Page A/02: An article in Monday’s Metro section about activist D.A. King should have said that The Dustin Inman Society is an anti-illegal immigration group. The organization is not opposed to legal immigration.

Whether on the streets or in the halls of the Georgia Capitol, fighting illegal immigration is a way of life for D.A. King.

The 53-year-old Cobb County man quit his job selling medical insurance three years ago to become a self-educated activist against illegal immigration. Dismissed as a fringe figure by critics, King has forced his way into an influential role in this year’s debate over a legislative crackdown on illegals.

King’s style is straightforward, even confrontational. At a rally in 2004 at which illegal immigrants protested in favor of being issued driver’s licenses, King — a 6-foot-2, 220-pound Marine Corps veteran — waded through the crowd holding up his own license, taunting demonstrators.

“You are criminals!” King shouted. “You cannot have my country!”

Critics say King uses angry rhetoric to stir up passions. One legislator asked King in a public meeting if he considered himself a supremacist.

But King’s allies see him as a smart, articulate and tireless warrior for their cause.

“D.A. probably knows more about this issue than any person in the Southeast,” said Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), sponsor of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, which is nearing final passage in the Legislature. “He’s been a very helpful information source. And I’ve never had anything he’s given me turn out not to be true.”

King said he was drawn into the debate when a Mexican family moved across the street from his home in 1997. King said eventually, up to 20 people were living in the home and multiple cars and loud parties became commonplace. King called federal immigration authorities. He was shocked that federal officials ignored his complaints.

Sen. Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta), who has been criticized by King for supporting illegal immigrants, said he understands the frustration many Americans feel toward the issue.

“Ultimately, they’re discussing economics, costs, taxes, policy related to immigration,” Zamarripa said. “But that’s not what D.A. King discusses. D.A. King has a language system that bumps up against hostility, anger, and that’s a very dangerous way to approach a discussion that’s loaded with sensitivities.”

King has spent much of this year working in Capitol hallways and committee rooms advising Rogers on his proposal, Senate Bill 529. King also testified several times on the bill, which would deny many public benefits to illegal immigrants and require employers to verify that their workers are in the country legally if they want to claim them as a business tax deduction.

When King testified before the Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, Sen. Steen Miles (D-Decatur) asked if he considered himself a supremacist. King told Miles he simply wants the federal government to enforce its immigration laws.

“I don’t know the gentleman,” Miles said in an interview later. “But the information that I have read from his Web site … tends to point in that direction.”

King believes the federal government should secure its borders to make sure no one crosses into this country illegally. He believes federal authorities should conduct periodic raids of businesses that employ illegal immigrants. Those businesses should be punished, and the illegal immigrants should be deported in accordance with existing laws, he says.

Over time, King reasons, businesses will stop hiring illegal immigrants and the workers will realize there are no jobs in the United States.

King said he realizes there would be a dramatic impact on the economy if all illegal immigrants were deported immediately, so he advocates a slow deportation. He believes American companies would adjust and start paying competitive wages and hiring legal residents, even if it means increased costs.

Last year, King founded an anti-immigration group called the Dustin Inman Society, named for the 16-year-old son of a friend killed in a hit-and-run car crash involving an illegal immigrant.

“I commend him greatly,” said Billy Inman of Woodstock, Dustin’s father. “The problem overwhelmed him and really bothered him. He don’t want to see no other kids done this way. Or nobody. ‘Cause it’s not right.”

King writes regular columns posted on Web sites and published in the Marietta Daily Journal. King often writes about the fear of “Georgiafornia,” a takeoff of the anti-illegal immigration name for California, “Mexifornia.” After attending a rally in support of illegal immigrants, he wrote in one column, “My first act on a safe return home was to take a shower.”

King is a regular contributor to VDARE.com. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, a civil rights organization that tracks hate groups, has dubbed VDARE.com a “hate Web site,” and noted King’s activities in a report on anti-immigrant activity in Georgia.

In response, King said the center “ran out of … nutball Klanners to go after” but needed to keep donations flowing, so its founder “turned his head towards people who insist that our immigration laws be enforced and that our borders be secured.” King noted the center has been criticized by other human rights advocates for questionable fund-raising tactics.

Zamarripa said he believes King is a shadowy “agent.” A September report, put together by several organizations including the Zamarripa-chaired Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, details associations between King and groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies and American Patrol.

“These organizations are not white supremacists with the sort of old-fashioned Ku Klux Klan model,” Zamarripa said in an interview. “But these organizations walk a very fine line in getting close to organizations that, historically, I associate with intolerance and bigotry.”

King contends that charges of racism against him are a desperate act to silence people who are vocal about illegal immigration.

“I say that illegal immigration is wrong, it’s bad for my country and I try to stop it,” he said. “Here comes the only weapon that they can use. They cannot use the law, they cannot use any facts, they can’t back up their argument with anything other then their last line of defense, which is charges of some kind of un-Americanism.”

King regularly organizes rallies and has shown up at day labor sites where illegal immigrants wait for work; he takes pictures and asks the men if they are in the country legally. He has complained to companies that allow Spanish as a customer service option.

King acknowledges his aggressive style.

“That is by design. I try very hard to plainly say we have a problem, it will get worse, and here’s what it is,” King said. “I have watched people sit around the elephant in the living room and talk about the wallpaper.”

In 1977, King was convicted on federal gambling charges and sentenced to two years on probation and a fine, according to documents he provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. King said he had worked as a bookie in Alabama for more than two years and got caught in interstate betting on sports.

He said getting punished by the feds is not his motivation for urging the government to enforce immigration laws.

“I violated the law and I deserved to be punished and I was,” King said. “But my whole life I had been taught that I am no better or no worse than anyone else. And I cannot accept the fact that there are well-connected wealthy, campaign-donating people who are profiting from federal crime and are not being punished.”

King insists he’s “just a guy” who would rather be cooking, savoring his wine collection and enjoying the company of his wife of nearly 24 years, Sue.

The price of activism has been high, King said. He said he’s blown through his savings and his grandmother’s inheritance and maxed out eight credit cards. King said he’s not sure how he will make his mortgage payment in May.

Fighting illegal immigration was not part of his plan. He and his wife had planned to buy a home in Sarasota, Fla. Sue was supposed to stop working as a travel agent, and he was supposed to sell insurance part-time.

But the fight has, however, become what King believes is his duty.

“A lot of people are quite willing to sit and assume that somebody else is going to fix it. I never would’ve guessed that I was the somebody — in my wildest dreams.”

DONALD ARTHUR “D.A.” KING

> Age: 53

> Lives in: Cobb County, near Marietta

> Quit his job in 2003 to work full time as an activist against illegal immigration.

> Former independent insurance agent and U.S. Marine Corps corporal

> Founder, the Dustin Inman Society, the American Resistance (anti-illegal immigration groups)

> Birthplace: Rapid City, S.D.

> Reared in: Montgomery, northern Michigan and the suburbs of Detroit

> Family: Wife, Sue, married more than 23 years

Read the complete article.

Warrior against illegals lives, breathes the issue

By Carlos Campos, Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 27, 2006

Cobb man quit job to become full-time activist

Carlos Campos – Staff

Monday, March 27, 2006

CORRECTION: 03/29/06, Page A/02: An article in Monday’s Metro section about activist D.A. King should have said that The Dustin Inman Society is an anti-illegal immigration group. The organization is not opposed to legal immigration.

Whether on the streets or in the halls of the Georgia Capitol, fighting illegal immigration is a way of life for D.A. King.

The 53-year-old Cobb County man quit his job selling medical insurance three years ago to become a self-educated activist against illegal immigration. Dismissed as a fringe figure by critics, King has forced his way into an influential role in this year’s debate over a legislative crackdown on illegals.

King’s style is straightforward, even confrontational. At a rally in 2004 at which illegal immigrants protested in favor of being issued driver’s licenses, King — a 6-foot-2, 220-pound Marine Corps veteran — waded through the crowd holding up his own license, taunting demonstrators.

“You are criminals!” King shouted. “You cannot have my country!”

Critics say King uses angry rhetoric to stir up passions. One legislator asked King in a public meeting if he considered himself a supremacist.

But King’s allies see him as a smart, articulate and tireless warrior for their cause.

“D.A. probably knows more about this issue than any person in the Southeast,” said Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), sponsor of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, which is nearing final passage in the Legislature. “He’s been a very helpful information source. And I’ve never had anything he’s given me turn out not to be true.”

King said he was drawn into the debate when a Mexican family moved across the street from his home in 1997. King said eventually, up to 20 people were living in the home and multiple cars and loud parties became commonplace. King called federal immigration authorities. He was shocked that federal officials ignored his complaints.

Sen. Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta), who has been criticized by King for supporting illegal immigrants, said he understands the frustration many Americans feel toward the issue.

“Ultimately, they’re discussing economics, costs, taxes, policy related to immigration,” Zamarripa said. “But that’s not what D.A. King discusses. D.A. King has a language system that bumps up against hostility, anger, and that’s a very dangerous way to approach a discussion that’s loaded with sensitivities.”

King has spent much of this year working in Capitol hallways and committee rooms advising Rogers on his proposal, Senate Bill 529. King also testified several times on the bill, which would deny many public benefits to illegal immigrants and require employers to verify that their workers are in the country legally if they want to claim them as a business tax deduction.

When King testified before the Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, Sen. Steen Miles (D-Decatur) asked if he considered himself a supremacist. King told Miles he simply wants the federal government to enforce its immigration laws.

“I don’t know the gentleman,” Miles said in an interview later. “But the information that I have read from his Web site … tends to point in that direction.”

King believes the federal government should secure its borders to make sure no one crosses into this country illegally. He believes federal authorities should conduct periodic raids of businesses that employ illegal immigrants. Those businesses should be punished, and the illegal immigrants should be deported in accordance with existing laws, he says.

Over time, King reasons, businesses will stop hiring illegal immigrants and the workers will realize there are no jobs in the United States.

King said he realizes there would be a dramatic impact on the economy if all illegal immigrants were deported immediately, so he advocates a slow deportation. He believes American companies would adjust and start paying competitive wages and hiring legal residents, even if it means increased costs.

Last year, King founded an anti-immigration group called the Dustin Inman Society, named for the 16-year-old son of a friend killed in a hit-and-run car crash involving an illegal immigrant.

“I commend him greatly,” said Billy Inman of Woodstock, Dustin’s father. “The problem overwhelmed him and really bothered him. He don’t want to see no other kids done this way. Or nobody. ‘Cause it’s not right.”

King writes regular columns posted on Web sites and published in the Marietta Daily Journal. King often writes about the fear of “Georgiafornia,” a takeoff of the anti-illegal immigration name for California, “Mexifornia.” After attending a rally in support of illegal immigrants, he wrote in one column, “My first act on a safe return home was to take a shower.”

King is a regular contributor to VDARE.com. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, a civil rights organization that tracks hate groups, has dubbed VDARE.com a “hate Web site,” and noted King’s activities in a report on anti-immigrant activity in Georgia.

In response, King said the center “ran out of … nutball Klanners to go after” but needed to keep donations flowing, so its founder “turned his head towards people who insist that our immigration laws be enforced and that our borders be secured.” King noted the center has been criticized by other human rights advocates for questionable fund-raising tactics.

Zamarripa said he believes King is a shadowy “agent.” A September report, put together by several organizations including the Zamarripa-chaired Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, details associations between King and groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies and American Patrol.

“These organizations are not white supremacists with the sort of old-fashioned Ku Klux Klan model,” Zamarripa said in an interview. “But these organizations walk a very fine line in getting close to organizations that, historically, I associate with intolerance and bigotry.”

King contends that charges of racism against him are a desperate act to silence people who are vocal about illegal immigration.

“I say that illegal immigration is wrong, it’s bad for my country and I try to stop it,” he said. “Here comes the only weapon that they can use. They cannot use the law, they cannot use any facts, they can’t back up their argument with anything other then their last line of defense, which is charges of some kind of un-Americanism.”

King regularly organizes rallies and has shown up at day labor sites where illegal immigrants wait for work; he takes pictures and asks the men if they are in the country legally. He has complained to companies that allow Spanish as a customer service option.

King acknowledges his aggressive style.

“That is by design. I try very hard to plainly say we have a problem, it will get worse, and here’s what it is,” King said. “I have watched people sit around the elephant in the living room and talk about the wallpaper.”

In 1977, King was convicted on federal gambling charges and sentenced to two years on probation and a fine, according to documents he provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. King said he had worked as a bookie in Alabama for more than two years and got caught in interstate betting on sports.

He said getting punished by the feds is not his motivation for urging the government to enforce immigration laws.

“I violated the law and I deserved to be punished and I was,” King said. “But my whole life I had been taught that I am no better or no worse than anyone else. And I cannot accept the fact that there are well-connected wealthy, campaign-donating people who are profiting from federal crime and are not being punished.”

King insists he’s “just a guy” who would rather be cooking, savoring his wine collection and enjoying the company of his wife of nearly 24 years, Sue.

The price of activism has been high, King said. He said he’s blown through his savings and his grandmother’s inheritance and maxed out eight credit cards. King said he’s not sure how he will make his mortgage payment in May.

Fighting illegal immigration was not part of his plan. He and his wife had planned to buy a home in Sarasota, Fla. Sue was supposed to stop working as a travel agent, and he was supposed to sell insurance part-time.

But the fight has, however, become what King believes is his duty.

“A lot of people are quite willing to sit and assume that somebody else is going to fix it. I never would’ve guessed that I was the somebody — in my wildest dreams.”

DONALD ARTHUR “D.A.” KING

> Age: 53

> Lives in: Cobb County, near Marietta

> Quit his job in 2003 to work full time as an activist against illegal immigration.

> Former independent insurance agent and U.S. Marine Corps corporal

> Founder, the Dustin Inman Society, the American Resistance (anti-illegal immigration groups)

> Birthplace: Rapid City, S.D.

> Reared in: Montgomery, northern Michigan and the suburbs of Detroit

> Family: Wife, Sue, married more than 23 years

Read the complete article.

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Cherokee Ledger News
26 November, 2008

Commissioners take comments on harboring ordinance
By Carolyn Mathews

A public hearing on Cherokee County’s proposed “Harboring Illegal Aliens” ordinance brought out speakers who said legal action against those who are undocumented is long overdue, along with speakers who warned that the passage of such an ordinance would cost the county thousands of dollars in legal fees, while further depressing the business climate in the county. About 50 people attended, and more than 20 addressed commissioners with their concerns.

Both Post 1 Commissioner Harry Johnston and Post 2 Commissioner Jim Hubbard said they were surprised the crowd was so small, considering the controversy surrounding the county’s previous attempt at a similar ordinance, which is in litigation.

(Left: Kris Kobach, second from left, a specialist in immigration law, explains the merits of the proposed ordinance to, from left, county attorney Angela Davis, Post 4 Commissioner Derek Good, Post 3 Commissioner Karen Bosch, and Commission Chairman Buzz Ahrens.)

Commission Chairman Buzz Ahrens said the Board of Commissioners would consider the input it got at the Nov. 17 public hearing and would allow time for continued public input over the next two months, not taking any action on the ordinance before the second county commission meeting in January.

The proposed ordinance, which addresses both the housing and the employment of illegal aliens, is designed to take the place of an ordinance that outlawed only the renting of dwellings to those in the country illegally. That ordinance was scheduled to take effect in 2007, after the commission unanimously approved it at the end of 2006. It was never enforced, and currently is stayed under a consent agreement by a U.S. District Court judge after it was almost immediately challenged in court.

The lawsuit against the county was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the law firms Troutman Sanders LLP and Hernan, Taylor & Lee.

Attorneys for those who challenged the original ordinance say that if the BOC passes the newly proposed ordinance, in will be in violation of the current injunction.

Alan Lubel, an attorney with Troutman Sanders, called the new proposal, “an attempt to pull an end-run on the judge’s injunction.”

“If the commission passes this ordinance, the housing part will put them in violation of the court order,” he said “We will proceed in the existing lawsuit to enforce the judge’s order.”

The newly proposed ordinance includes a new section that imposes local penalties against some businesses that knowingly hire illegal workers and brings the county into compliance with recent state laws by requiring those applying for a business license in the county to check the status of all workers.

It changes the method by which the housing of illegal immigrants would be determined, by having every renter over the age of 18 register with the county business license office and provide proof of citizenship.

It is designed by University of Missouri law professor Kris Kobach, who has designed many similar ordinances on a national level, several still under litigation. Kobach spoke on the intention and design of the ordinance at the pubic hearing.

Kobach noted that a new law regarding undocumented workers is being enforced in Arizona, after being upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. v. Napolitano. He said it has met with “dramatic” success. He said Cherokee’s proposal, which would require county employers to check their employees’ status using the federal E-Verify system, is similar to the Arizona program.

“The threat of enforcement produced real results,” he said of the Arizona law. “When incentives are stronger to obey laws, they are obeyed. There’s a significant amount of evidence that the illegal workforce self-deports, and that’s what we want to achieve.”

Woodstock residents Billy and Kathy Inman both gave comments to the board. Billy Inman told commissioners the story of an automobile accident in June 2000 in which his 16-year-old son, Dustin, was killed and his wife, Kathy, was injured. Stopped at a traffic light in Ellijay, their vehicle was struck from behind, and they were sandwiched between the striking vehicle and a car in front of them. The driver behind them, Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, who had a valid North Carolina driver’s license, was allegedly in the country illegally. He fled from an Ellijay hospital after the accident and was never apprehended. Inman contends that if Harrell-Gonzalez were not in the country illegally, the accident would not have happened.

“I can’t bring my son back, but I don’t want anyone else to go through the crap I’ve been through,” Inman said. “It’s not right.”

John Fincher, of Canton, who was present at the meeting, said he wanted to know why commissioners were taking on a federal issue. “Seventy-five percent of those in attendance were not Cherokee County residents,” he said.

Several of those who spoke to commissioners said the presence of Hispanics in their neighborhoods was bringing their property values down. Tricia Grindel, of Cherokee Forest Subdivision, called the Hispanic population a “blight on the neighborhood,” and worried that many of the men in the county without families “walk in packs in the streets late at night.”

Grindel said illegal immigrants were “a slap in the face of everyone who immigrates using proper procedures.”

Ken Waldrop, of Woodstock, asked who paid the consulting bill for Kobach’s advice, and wanted to know why the county was spending the money on the proposal while county revenues are down.

“Immigration laws will pass (on the federal level),” he said. “There certainly does seem to be an element of racism here.”

Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, and a Cherokee resident, said she was concerned and dismayed at the proposed “scattershot” ordinance.

“It puts the county at the risk of huge litigation costs,” she said. She noted a New York Times article from Sept. 26, 2007, in which the mayor of Riverside, N.J., George Conrad, who had originally voted in favor of a similar ordinance, said, “I don’t think people knew there would be such an economic burden. A lot of people did not look three years out.” That ordinance against hiring and renting to undocumented immigrants was rescinded, but Kobach claims it was never enforced.

Seagraves said that the housing portion of the Cherokee proposed ordinance, which requires every adult renter in the county to obtain a $5 renter’s license, would create a “database of renters.”

“That’s downright un-American,” she said. “You are adding to the burdens of families who are on the brink of financial disaster and are renting their homes because they can’t sell them.”

Azadeh Shahshahani, an attorney with the ACLU, said that no restricted housing ordinance has ever stood up in court, and that the county would be facing a “difficult and costly legal battle for an ordinance the would fail to withstand constitutional scrutiny.”

She said Farmer’s Branch, Texas, has spent more than $900,000 fighting a legal battle over a similar ordinance, and Escondido, Calif., has spent more than $1 million. Neither of those figures, she said, included attorneys’ fees.

Elise Shore, an attorney with MALDEF, agreed with Lubel, arguing that the current ordinance that is stayed and the new proposal both have the same purpose, and the same effect, to discourage landlords from renting to a certain group and to exclude a certain group from renting. She said passage of a new ordinance and the subsequent repeal of the one in litigation would be a violation of the injunction.

D.A. King, an activist on the subject of those in the country without documentation, told commissioners he hopes the ordinance is passed and enforced and that “illegal aliens migrate out of the community.”

He said his sister, who was born in Korea, is an immigrant and the term “immigrant” applies to “those who are here lawfully and do not require amnesty.”

“I think it’s shameful to blur the line,” he said.

Meg Rogers, director of Cherokee Family Violence Center, asked commissioners if the proposed ordinance would affect their efforts to find housing for victims of domestic violence who were in the process of obtaining legal status, and worried that the ordinance might prohibit women in danger from calling them for fear of being turned into authorities.

Kobach said that the enforcement of the ordinance, if passed, would be at the direction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

He said if a complaint is turned in on a business for employing undocumented workers, or a renter can’t prove citizenship, the county business license office would contact the federal government, which he said is bound by law to provide information on citizenship status to state and local governments. Kobach said the county would be instructed to use either the federal E-Verify system for employment or the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program for benefit entitlement.

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Cherokee Tribune
November 19, 2008

Public provides input on illegal alien ordinance

By Ashley Fuller

Illegal immigration could be one of the first issues the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners will tackle in the new year.

The board at a public hearing Monday night on its newly proposed ordinance to prevent renting residential space or hiring illegal immigrants heard from more people in favor of the measure than against.

In December of 2006, the board voted to make it illegal to rent or lease property to illegal immigrants.

A lawsuit was filed against the county by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the law firms Troutman Sanders LLP and Hernan, Taylor & Lee. An injunction was placed on the county by a U.S. District Court judge to prevent enforcement, and the lawsuit was stayed but still is pending.

The board now is considering a new ordinance, which includes a revised version of the rental and lease portion of the original proposal, and was expanded to cover employment.

Commission Chairman Buzz Ahrens said the board would “take under advisement” the comments made during the hearing. The board voted to not bring the issue back up any sooner than its meeting on Jan. 20.

Fourteen people spoke in favor of the ordinance.

D.A. King of Marietta, president of the Dustin Inman Society, which is dedicated to educating the public on the consequences of illegal immigration, encouraged its passage.

“I hope it is not only passed, but it is enforced,” he said, adding that illegal immigrants move out of communities where similar laws are enforced.

Billy Inman of southwest Cherokee, whose son, Dustin, the organization’s namesake, was killed in an accident caused by an illegal immigrant, also spoke at the hearing, calling the ordinance “a good start.”

Kris Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City who is working with the county on the ordinance, said it should withstand a legal challenge. He said there is only one U.S. Supreme Court decision and one Court of Appeals decision on the issue, both of which support the ordinance.

Six people spoke against the ordinance, the majority of whom were from organizations that filed the original lawsuit.

Attorneys for MALDEF said passage of the new ordinance would violate the injunction currently in place.

“The two ordinances make the same activity illegal,” Elise Shore, regional counsel for MALDEF, said. “The two ordinances have the same effect of discouraging landlords from renting to a particular group.”

Opponents also brought up economic concerns. Debbie Seagraves of Woodstock, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said the employer provisions in the ordinance could have an effect on the local economy.

“Businesses may choose to relocate out of Cherokee County,” she said.

While none of the speakers said a lawsuit would be filed if the ordinance is passed, they did use the idea in their arguments.

Azadeh Shahshahani, national security/immigrant rights project director for the ACLU of Georgia, said the ordinance would cause the county to spend as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend it in court.

The revised ordinance requires everyone who wants to rent or lease residential property to submit an occupancy license application to the county business license division for a $5 fee.

The application must include the occupant’s country of citizenship and a signed declaration the applicant is a lawful citizen or an identification number assigned by the federal government that establishes their lawful presence in the country. If an applicant does not have a number, they are to declare that on the application.

The county government then will check with the federal government to see if the occupant is a lawful resident. If the federal government reports the status of the occupant as not lawfully in the country, a deficiency notice is sent to the occupant, who has 60 days to correct the government’s records or provide information establishing their legal residency. If, after 60 days, the occupant’s immigration status has not changed, a revocation notice is sent to the occupant and the lessor.

If a landlord violates the ordinance, his or her business license will be suspended.

The ordinance also makes it illegal to hire illegal aliens.

If the county government receives a valid complaint, it will request identity information from the business regarding any individual alleged to be an illegal alien. The county will send the information to the federal government.

The county will suspend the license of any business that fails to correct a violation within 15 days of notification if the federal government confirms the employee is not in the country legally. The suspension will end after the business has shown that the violation has ended. Subsequent violations will result in a 30-day business license suspension.

The employment section of the ordinance does not apply to the hiring of an independent contractor by a business or the hiring of casual labor for domestic tasks.

The ordinance only applies to unincorporated Cherokee County, although leaders of local cities said they would consider similar measures if there was public interest.

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County Proposes (Illegal) Immigrant Renter Measure
WXIA TV Atlanta

Monday, November 17, 2008

CANTON, Ga. — One Metro county is trying again to crack down on illegal immigrants living and working in the area.

Cherokee County is proposing that every renter get a permit. Anyone not from this country could be investigated and if they’re not legal, kicked out of their apartment. Also, businesses could lose their licenses if they hire illegal immigrants.

As Cherokee County commissioners consider a new ordinance to crack down on illegal immigrants working and living in the area, Billy and Cathy Inman sat solemnly in the back row. Many say it is their story that prompted these very discussions.

“I lost my son to an illegal alien on Father’s Day 2000,” said Billy Inman.

It was a statement that brought the room to dead silence.

“We sat at a red light in Ellijay,” Billy said. “He plowed into us, sat in the road. My son and the family dog died at the scene. ”

Kathy Inman has been in a wheel chair ever since. A picture of her son is on the back of it, next to a bigger picture of the man who police say caused the accident and later walked away from the hospital never to be seen again.

For Meg Rogers, who heads up the Cherokee Violence Center, the proposed ordinance is too broad, and will end up sending the wrong message.

“It’s difficult to help victims of domestic violence who do not have status, because they’re afraid to ask for help,” Rogers said.

An issue that landed Cherokee County with a court injunction the first time — and maybe again. But some — like the Inmans — say it’s worth it.

“I just wish you’d open your eyes,” Billy Inman said. “Because some day it could happen to anyone in this room.”

Representatives of the Mexican-American Legal and Defense Fund also took to the podium Monday night. They say the proposed ordinance is unconstitutional. They took the county to court over the first proposed ordinance two years ago — and it’s still tied up there. They said they’re prepared to fight against this one as well.

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Cherokee puts off vote on renter law targeting illegal immigrantsBy NANCY BADERTSCHER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Cherokee County Commission decided Monday night to wait until at least mid-January to consider passing an ordinance that would require all renters to pay a $5 fee and subject themselves to verification that they are in the country legally.

The ordinance, Cherokee’s second attempt in three years to crack down on illegal immigrants, also would give the county the power to suspend the business licenses of companies that hire undocumented workers.

Buzz Ahrens, chairman of the commission, said the board would take the time to further review the ordinance, and to digest feedback it received Monday night at a public hearing.

Some residents said the ordinance that could send a bad message to businesses that might consider locating in Cherokee County and subject the county to a costly legal fight. Others said the ordinance is overdue and voiced frustrations about what illegal immigrants are doing to their neighborhoods and to taxpayer-funded government services.

Billy Inman of Woodstock made an emotional plea for passage of the ordinance, recounting for the commission the struggles that he and his wife have gone through since a wreck in 2000 that killed their son. He blamed it on an illegal immigrant.

“Something has got to be done, and this is a good start,” Inman said.

The ordinance could supersede one that was passed in 2006, but was never enforced after civil rights groups filed suit.

The new ordinance, like the earlier one, targets illegal immigrants who rent houses and apartments and live in extended stay motels. It would require each renter to pay a $5 licensing fee and provide information on their country of citizenship. The county could then investigate their legal status and go after both them and their landlord, if the renters are proven to be illegal citizens.

The provision on businesses is new and would require businesses to verify the legal status of their employees. Companies found to be employing illegal immigrants could have their business licenses suspended.

Debbie Seagraves, a lifelong Cherokee County resident, told commissioners she’s “very concerned and dismayed that we’re considering another questionable and scattershot ordinance.”

She said she believes the ordinance could discourage business recruits and “add insult to injury” by requiring a $5 fee from renters, some of whom may have lost their homes because of the economic downturn.

The commission also heard differing legal opinions on whether the ordinance could withstand a court challenge.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said they think the county commissioners would be violating an injunction in a lawsuit over the earlier ordinance if they adopt the new ordinance.

“The two ordinances have the same effect of discouraging landlords from renting to a particular group,” said Elise Shore, with MALDEF.

Kris Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law who is assisting the county, said he believes the ordinance would withstand legal challenge and would help reduce the county’s problems with illegal immigrants.

“When the incentives are stronger for people to obey the law, people actually do obey the law … and they self-deport,” Kobach said.

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