Immigration Politics Georgia

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D.A. King

GALEO’s Dax Lopez passed over again despite support from Establishment Republican “influencer” Heath Garrett

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DeKalb State Court Judge Dax Lopez. Image: Daily Signal

A partial list of reminders of when Dax Lopez did not resign from GALEO  *Updated with short audio

 

 

Conservative, pro-enforcement voters in Georgia should have an interest in understanding that Governor Kemp rejected DeKalb state court judge Dax Lopez for an appointment to higher court last week – May 31st – and who supported the appointment.

Lopez was on a short list with two other judges for a gubernatorial appointment for a promotion to a Stone Mountain Circuit Superior Court seat. On Friday, Kemp announced that Shondeana Morris, a former deputy district attorney in Fulton County and former assistant solicitor for the City of Atlanta was chosen for the position. Morris has been a State Court judge since 2017. Lopez was appointed to state court on 2010 by Republican Governor Sonny Perdue.

This was not the first time Dax Lopez has run into trouble. After intense public pressure, in 2016 Lopez was rejected by Georgia Senator David Perdue after then President Barack Obama nominated him for a lifetime seat on the federal bench in Georgia. Lopez also withdrew his name from consideration for Georgia Supreme Court when letters of objection poured into then Governor Deals’ office asking that Lopez be dropped from consideration.

Republican strategist and former Chief of Staff to Senator Johnny Isakson, Heath Garrett, reminded us that he and Senator Isakson backed Lopez for federal judge and expressed support for appointing Lopez to Superior Court on the May 13 edition of the liberal GPB radio show ‘Political Rewind. ’ Garrett explained that Dax Lopez was not only a friend but someone who Garrett has worked with. An excerpt from the radio dialogue on Lopez and the possibility of his advancement:

Heath Garrett. Image: Twitter

Heath Garrett: “And, look, full disclosure, Dax is a good friend. He’s worked with me on a number of campaigns. Uh, Senator Isakson and our organization has promoted him for that federal judgeship and backed him, uh, to the, uh, ’til the moment that he withdrew. Uh, we support him in this, as well. This is exactly the type of individual that Republicans ought to be supporting into these types of positions. And then to have others within the party come and attack him, I think is bad policy.”

 

Update: Audio.

 Garrett was joined in support of Lopez by the pro-amnesty corporation fund by open borders billionaires, FWD.us after GALEO leader Jerry Gonzalez sent out an action alert for supporters to contact Governor Kemp and directing them to the FWD.us page to sign on to a letter to Kemp.

Garrett is described as an “influencer” by Ballotpedia. *A favorite Heath Garrett story here.

 Why has Dax Lopez had so much trouble with advancement?

For eleven years Dax Lopez served as board member, treasurer, tactician and fundraiser for the corporate-funded, anti-enforcement immigration activist group the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO). He resigned from GALEO only after the Obama nomination for federal bench and the massive objections from the public, elected officials and law enforcement officers poured into the senate offices.

We think it is important to understand that Dax Lopez did not resign from GALEO when Executive Director, Jerry Gonzalez, was race-baiting and smearing legislators for passing legislation aimed at protecting Georgians from illegal immigration. And smearing rule of law activists for taking a pro-enforcement position on immigration  – and attacking law enforcement officials for daring to use the federal  287(g) tool to safeguard public safety by locating and reporting to ICE criminal illegal aliens who were arrested for additional crimes and landed in the county jails.

According to the left-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than green card holders.

Image: GBPI.org

 

 

Dax Lopez has made it clear that he supports the GALEO agenda.

An abbreviated list of the GALEO agenda items pursued with corporate funding during the time Dax Lopez served on the GALEO board include:

  • Leading and participating in protest marches against any immigration enforcement
  • Lobbying city and county officials against honoring ICE detainer requests in local jails
  • Transporting and escorting admitted illegal aliens into the senate chambers in the state Capitol
  • Lobbying against voter ID
  • Lobbying against increased penalties for driving without ever having been licensed
  • Lobbying state legislators against use of federal tools to insure public benefits only go to eligible applicants
  • Lobbying against implementation of the no-cost E-Verify system to protect jobs for legal residents
  • Lobbying against legislation to make English the constitutional official language of government in Georgia
  • Lobbying against state penalties for ID fraud for the purpose of illegally obtaining employment on the pretense that all of this would somehow be “anti-immigrant” and/or “anti-Hispanic.”

Not only did Dax Lopez not resign from the board of GALEO when all this was happening, but as a sitting state court Judge Dax Lopez assisted with GALEO fundraising by serving as keynote speaker at a 2011 GALEO breakfast fundraiser.

Also according to the Charlotte Observer Lopez was personally and directly active against state immigration enforcement-related legislation in a very direct manner (2008). Lopez wrote then-Gov. Sonny Perdue, requesting a gubernatorial veto of two pieces of legislation, House Bill 978 and Senate Bill 350. Both measures were judged by GALEO to adversely affect Georgia’s growing illegal alien community.

“Gov. Perdue did veto HB 978, which authorized the impounding of vehicles from operators who had no valid driver’s licenses. But he signed Senate Bill 350 into law, making a fourth conviction for driving without a license a felony.

The measure also requires police to determine the nationality of anyone jailed after being convicted for driving without a license. The Latino officials association opposed the measure, saying it would create tension between immigrants and law enforcement while making crime victims and witnesses less likely to contact police” the newspaper reported.

We think Governor Kemp did the right thing to listen to pro-enforcement Georgians and to ignore the voices of Establishment Republicans like Heath Garrett when he passed over GALEO’s Dax Lopez.

Full disclosure: The Dustin Inman Society, of which this writer is president, proudly organized opposition to state court judge Dax Lopez for federal court, for state supreme court and the most recent attempt to advance to superior court.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for a better life: First large all-African group greeted at southern border

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his May 29, 2019 photo released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows some of 1,036 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, the largest that the Border Patrol says it has ever encountered. Video shows them going under a chain-link fence to the U.S., where they waited for agents to come. The Border Patrol has encountered 180 groups of more than 100 people since October, compared to 13 during the previous 12-month period and two the year before. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection via AP and WaTimes)

 

African migrants discover U.S. immigration loopholes

By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times – Friday, May 31, 2019

Border authorities nabbed a group of 116 illegal immigrants from Africa this week, saying it’s the first time they’ve found Africans taking advantage of the large-group tactic Central American migrants have learned to abuse.

The Africans were caught Thursday night near the border crossing in Del Rio, Texas — though instead of presenting themselves at the port of entry, they jumped the border, an official told reporters.

Like Central American groups, this one was comprised of children and families, and appeared to be attempting to exploit the same loopholes the Central Americans discovered they could use to gain an illegal foothold in the U.S. and escape deportation.

“Bring a child, get released,” said a Customs and Border Protection official.

CBP said the group included people from Angola, Cameroon and Congo. Other African migrants have previously benefitted from the family loophole, but never in such a single large group.

 

The expansion of the large-group tactic beyond migrants from the western hemisphere is a worrying sign for a border already overstretched.

The official said it was too early to say what routes the African migrants took.

He did say that the migrants were given initial medical screenings and all of them appeared to be healthy.The Africans marked the 182nd large group to be encountered since Oct. 1. The others have generally been comprised of Central Americans… more from the Washington Times here.

Illegal employers mostly safe from Trump’s immigration enforcement

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Image: CIS.org

Illegal employment – hiring illegal aliens – is the main driver of illegal immigration. Mandatory nationwide E-Verify would have a significant effect on the crisis.

NOT MANY COMPANIES ACTUALLY GET BUSTED FOR HIRING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, STUDY FINDS

Jason Hopkins | Immigration and politics reporter
  • A study by Syracuse University finds few people have been prosecuted for hiring illegal aliens in the past 12 months. 
  • Only 11 individuals have been prosecuted for knowingly hiring illegal aliens in the past year, despite nearly 86,000 people getting prosecuted for illegal entry into the country during the same time period. 
  • Immigration hawks argue that nationwide implementation of E-Verify, a program that checks a worker’s immigration status, would alleviate the problem.

A new study finds that, despite a record-setting number of immigrants illegally entering the country, relatively few employers are prosecuted for hiring undocumented aliens.

From April 2018 to March 2019, only 11 individuals were prosecuted for knowingly employing migrants without proper documentation, according to information compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. No individuals have been prosecuted in the past two months, and no companies were prosecuted in the last year… More here

Betrayed by their own government – American STEM students go into debt for this?

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Image: CIS.org

How OPT Hurts American College Students and American Tech Workers

When employed, Americans contribute to social security and in turn, their employers contribute to “unemployment” benefits when jobs are terminated. The same can not be said of OPT (Optional Practical Training) workers.

OPT visas are available to foreign workers with F-1 student visa status after just three months of attending a U.S. university. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security extended OPT visas to allow for an additional 17 month extension for students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors, allowing foreign students to work for three years in the U.S. through OPT.

The belief that “OPT provides a relief valve for employers who can’t find enough workers” is in actuality a myth–a story, a fable, that those who benefit from cheap, pliable labor want you to believe is true. The reality is, today, more than 50 million Americans between the ages of 18 – 54 remain unemployed.

Conversely, the OPT program, according to the PEW Research Institute has grown more than 400% from 2008 to 2016, with OPT approvals outnumbering H1B approvals for giving non-U.S. citizens legal options to work in the U.S.

Make no mistake, OPT workers take jobs from American students who might otherwise be hired and American tech and STEM workers who might otherwise remain employed. Story here, from Hilarie T. Gamm

BONUS INFO:Here.

Fast Fact: Foreign-born workers send $150 billion a year to their home country, says study

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Image: Twitter

Untaxed: Foreign-born workers send $150 billion a year to their home country, says study

Foreign-born workers are sending some $150 billion a year home in remittances to friends, family members and associates outside the United States, says a new study published by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonpartisan public interest group.

Such remittances are generally not subjected to international money transfer taxes, or sales and excise taxes.

“Illegal aliens alone remit more than $28 billion annually. This $150 billion represents a direct loss to our economy, siphoning off valuable capital and reducing government revenues,” the nonprofit said in their study, which is based on an analysis of current U.S. Census and World Bank data.

In contrast, Americans residing abroad only sent home $6.5 billion in 2017. Here, from the Washington Times

On the war on immigration enforcement: Inger Eberhart of the Dustin Inman Society at Insider Advantage Georgia

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The below guest column was posted on the subscription website, Insider Advantage Georgia today

On the war on immigration enforcement in Georgia

Image – Inger Eberhart

by | May 22, 2019 | The Forum

 

Editor’s note: The Gwinnett county 287 g program was extended to 2020 late Tuesday afternoon. 

“It’s my responsibility to assist the federal government in identifying illegal aliens committing crimes in Gwinnett County,” Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway on the 287(g) agreement with ICE

With the corporate-donor dollars on the anti-enforcement side, the war on immigration enforcement is raging in Georgia. It is not at all clear who will prevail.

 

In question this month is the federal program that allows two local jails to locate and hold illegal aliens captured for additional crimes here in Georgia.

Sheriff Butch Conway’s Office has had an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2009 in which specially trained deputies can act as immigration agents under the supervision of ICE officials. Such agreements are allowed under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

All known aliens are screened using the database provided by ICE to determine immigration status and the illegal aliens are then reported to ICE.

In 2007, Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren was the first in the state to have his jail become 287(g) approved. Both sheriffs report significant success in not only turning over criminal aliens to ICE for deportation, but in reducing the overall jail population. The 287(g) program acts as a deterrent to many illegals who are carefully considering where to take up residence.

Both sheriffs’ agreements with ICE on the 287(g) program are scheduled to expire next month unless the arrangements are extended or renewed. And both sheriffs report that they have captured murderers, kidnappers, rapists and child molesters who were found to be in the country illegally. In a different time, one would assume that nobody would have a problem with the federal authorities receiving help from local jails. Those times are long gone.

In today’s Georgia, identity politics groups oppose the added 287(g) enforcement with the ever-present but mindless talking point that it somehow makes the community less safe. The idea is that it is better to leave criminal aliens in the Georgia community than to risk “separating families.”

It is easy to describe the various opponents of enforcement as “the usual suspects”, but we think it educational to name some names – the Latin American Association for example. David Schafer serves as ‘Managing Director of Advocacy’ for the LAA. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘What’s good for our community,’ ” Schafer told the Gwinnett Daily Post in 2016, the last time Sheriff Conway’s 287(g) agreement was renewed. “Is it better to work with communities in terms of helping them build confidence to report crimes? And how much good does it do us to be taking parents out of families when we’ve got a situation where these families are already struggling to make a living when we’re effectively taking the wage earner out of the home?”

The list of anti-287(g) activists goes on to include the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) that has organized lobbying against immigration enforcement since 2003 – including for the eleven years that State Court Judge and current candidate for a governor’s appointment to the DeKalb Superior Court, Dax Lopez served as board member and fund raiser…read the rest here.

Media release: Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway extends 287(g) program to 2020

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Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway Image: Georgia Department of Corrections

The below release was sent here by the Gwinnett County Sheriffs’ office today.

For immediate release:

 Sheriff Butch Conway brought the 287(g) program to Gwinnett County in an effort to promote public safety and help reduce the jail population to save taxpayers money.  The program accomplishes both and Sheriff Conway’s commitment to continue the program is unwavering.

Sheriff Conway has been clear on his intention to sign the Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue the 287(g) program in Gwinnett when the MOA is up for renewal in June.

He recently received notice that the new MOA is undergoing revision and ICE offered him the option to extend our current MOA until June 30, 2020.  Sheriff Conway approved the extension and the paperwork has been signed and returned to the federal government as instructed.

“The 287(g) program is an effective tool that helps reduce crime and save money.  I see the continued benefits of having this program in our county and will continue to support it as long as I’m in office,” says Sheriff Butch Conway.

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Fast Fact: 8-in-9 Non-Citizen Federal Convicts Sentenced Last Year Are Illegal Aliens

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Image: CNN

More than 88 percent of non-citizen federal convicts who were sentenced last year are illegal aliens who had been living in the United States, a newly released Department of Justice (DOJ) report finds.

Nearly 30,000 non-citizens were sentenced last year for a myriad of federal crimes, data compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) reveals, making up nearly 43 percent of all convicts who were sentenced between October 1, 2017, and September 30, 2018.

Of these nearly 30,000 non-citizen federal convicts sentenced last year, about 8-in-9 are illegal aliens who had been living in the U.S. after either crossing the U.S.-Mexico border or overstaying a visa.

Here, from Breitbart News

U.S. Border Patrol Agent: “We’ve Lost Control of the Border”

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Image: Breitbart

A U.S. Border Patrol agent warned that our nation has “lost control of the border,” during an interview on Fox News Channel.

During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Outnumbered, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Hector Garza, in his role as vice-president of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), told Harris Faulkner, “We’ve lost control of the border, as we are right now.” He continued saying we must come up with a new plan to correct the problems that led to the loss of control of the border.

Read the rest here from Breitbart News.

Illegal aliens are not ‘immigrants’ – a pro-enforcement response to illegal alien, FWDus lobbyist Jaime Rangel

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Image: A.F. Branco

I close with an experienced warning to anyone judged to be too successful in advocating for honoring real immigrants by enforcing our immigration laws: You will be labeled as “anti-immigrant” and a “hater” by the integrity-free, anti-enforcement lobby.

The below guest column was published in today’s Dalton Daily Citizen-News

(Editor’s note: This is a response to Jaime Rangel’s column in the May 5 edition of the Daily Citizen-News.)

By D.A. King

D.A. King Image: Univision

In today’s America, it is easier to understand the debate on the raging illegal immigration crisis if people consider that there are essentially two general attitudes on the issue: Pro-enforcement and anti-enforcement. And realize that illegal immigration is mostly caused by rampant illegal employment.

This weary writer has been fighting the pro-enforcement battle in the Georgia Capitol since 2003. With a hope of educating readers, I take note here of the anti-enforcement guest column in this space last Sunday from Dalton’s Jaime Rangel.

I also respectfully note that no matter who created the headline on Rangel’s column, (“Session is over, but the fight for Georgia immigrants is not”) it serves as an inaccurate, thoughtless smear and base insult to the millions of real immigrants — like my adopted sister — who joined the American family according to our very liberal immigration laws.

The battle over immigration enforcement in America is not about “immigrants,” it is a question of whether or not we are going to end illegal immigration and tell the world that illegal aliens are not going to be treated the same as legal residents. And that we are never going to repeat the “one-time” immigration amnesty of 1986.

For folks who have a difficult time discerning the difference between illegal aliens and immigrants, it helps to remember that because they are here lawfully, immigrants do not require amnesty. And that immigrants are already on a path to citizenship.

It should shock readers to know that according to the left-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than green card holders. And more than Arizona.

Jaime Rangel is, by law, an illegal alien. This is an accurate legal term used in state law, federal law, by the U.S. Supreme Court (including by Justice Sonia Sotomayor), the IRS, multiple presidential executive orders and law enforcement professionals.

While we may have a certain amount of sympathy for anyone who was brought over our borders illegally by his parents as a child, dressing up illegal status with the attempt to hide behind the term “dreamer” created by the corporate-funded and far-left illegal alien lobby does not change reality.

Rangel is a paid lobbyist who works under the Gold Dome against any legislation designed to make life more difficult for illegal aliens and illegal employers. Put another way, in 21st century, Republican-ruled Georgia we have illegal aliens lobbying for illegal aliens and against enforcement — or too much information on the cost of illegal immigration being shared with Georgia taxpayers.

Example? The illegal alien lobby worked furiously against House Bill 202 in the last legislative session. The bill that would have simply required the Department of Corrections to publish a public, quarterly report showing the immigration status and number of non-citizens in the Georgia prison system. It died for the year in the Republican House Rules Committee.

Rangel also proudly boasted here of his input on legislative issues for next year at a strategy session held by the anti-enforcement Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

First, he wants special treatment for illegal aliens who have a deferral on deportation through Obama’s DACA program so they would receive the much lower instate tuition at Georgia’s public universities. This, while real immigrant families living in Chattanooga would pay a higher tuition rate in our schools.

Second, Rangel wants readers to believe that legislation pending to simply end the current policy of issuing the DACA illegals aliens the exact same drivers licenses and official ID cards as are given to real immigrants and guest workers will somehow stop the illegals like Rangel from “from safely traveling to and from their jobs.” The legislation does no such thing. It only creates a new and unique cards separate from what is issued to legal residents.

I close with an experienced warning to anyone judged to be too successful in advocating for honoring real immigrants by enforcing our immigration laws: You will be labeled as “anti-immigrant” and a “hater” by the integrity-free, anti-enforcement lobby.

D.A. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society. He is not a member of any political party. He has assisted state legislators with legislation since 2005.

 

 

 

  READ THE REST HERE.