Sheriff to forward my complaint to GBI
Last month I wrote a lengthy column here with an explanation of several state laws passed years ago with the goal of making Georgia less attractive to illegal immigration and a detailed narration of the fact that Carroll County government was (and is) in violation of these statutes.
However dry and boring it may seem to the busy reader now, if they are honored and enforced, the laws create difficulty for illegal aliens to obtain jobs, benefits, and services in Georgia. The politicians elected to lead Carroll County ignored my “heads up” warnings about glaring violations for more than six months.
To repeat another point from last month: With Georgia having a larger illegal alien population than Arizona and the Biden Regime allowing millions of illegal border crossings while choosing not to enforce immigration laws, Carroll County officials took a very similar attitude until they received some public exposure. Illegal immigration is not only a “federal problem.”
Many thanks to StarNews publisher and owner Sue Horn for the space to outline the above.
- Related: Latest development in Carroll County
Please know that if the storyline was about Carroll County government being in violation of any law that grants benefits or privileges to illegal aliens it would have long ago been a lead report on “the news” and in an Associated Press headline. Imagine the media frenzy if illegals were refused a taxpayer-funded K-12 education in Carroll County’s public schools or denied no-cost, no-questions-asked medical care in any emergency room in the state.
It appears that we created enough interest in the multiple Carroll County government violations to stir up some action on corrections.
I received an October 24th conference call from county attorney Avery Jackson and several county staffers including Mr. Ben Skipper asking me to check the changes they made to the county website and system of issuing public benefits. From here it looks like the changes they made corrected most of the violations.
I write “most” because a law we mentioned last month designed to ensure that taxpayer-funded projects run by public employers exclude black market labor is apparently being bypassed. “Public employers” refers to official entities like Carroll County, the state of Georgia or any other government agency in Georgia.
The law, (OCGA 13-10-91) requires contractors bidding on public jobs to swear on an affidavit they are using the federal E-Verify system to validate work eligibility of new employees and subcontractors. False swearing is a felony. The law is clear on what must be in the affidavit.
In response to my latest open records request to Carrol County government for a copy of the affidavit they use for this purpose Carroll County sent me completely unrelated copies of affidavits used for building permits. I sent a follow up email asking if there had been an error. I have not received a response.
Shorter: It looks like Carrol County government does not offer or collect the paperwork on which contractors are supposed to swear to use of E-Verify before they are allowed to bid on a tax-funded projects. I have no idea how many illegal aliens are working on public jobs paid for by Carrol County taxpayers. Neither do county officials. So much for the law.
As I wrote last month, I sent a request to Carroll County Sheriff Terry Langley to forward my official complaint against Carroll officials to the GBI. The Sheriff was kind enough to call me in late October and informed me that he will grant my request.
The story isn’t so dry and boring now, is it?
Creating the political pressure for enforcement is now up to voters
Carroll county voters have a choice. Absent outside pressure, it is obvious that little determination exists on the part of county government officials to fight illegal immigration, illegal administration of public benefits and illegal employment. But voting taxpayers do have remedies.
As we pointed out last month, the laws aimed at reducing illegal immigration in Georgia that conservatives fought for more than a decade ago were passed with the promise that state audits and inspection would be forthcoming “subject to available funding’ and “contingent upon appropriation or approval of necessary funding…” Georgia now has a huge budget surplus.
Governor Kemp is boasting of that budget surplus. In 2018 He ran on the promise of fighting illegal immigration in Georgia – it was his first TV campaign ad. He has betrayed us on that pledge. Phone calls to his office (404-656-1776) and unapologetic demands from voters to their public servant, state legislators that money be appropriated for the purpose of monitoring compliance is the only way this anti-enforcement crisis will be solved.
Heads up and a warning to voters who take the time to follow up on this: Not many legislators under the Gold Dome want to hear about or discuss illegal immigration in Georgia.
