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Fast Fact: Jeanne Seaver, pro-enforcement candidate for Lt. Gov comes out against foreign cops in Georgia
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: press@SeaverforLtGov.com Jeanne Seaver – Republican Candidate for Lt. Governor declares her opposition to the concept of foreign nationals as law enforcement officers in Georgia. Savannah, September 19, 2021- Jeanne Seaver made the following statement on the push by powerful lobbying groups on changing current state law addressing law enforcement powers and U.S. citizenship. “All certified law enforcement officers in Georgia should be American citizens,” says Seaver. “Like most commonsense Georgians, I am steadfast in my opposition to changing current state law that already requires our courageous law enforcement officers to be Americans. I have recently received many calls and emails asking about a well-funded and repeated push by at least one influential special interest group advancing the concept that we should alter state law so as to allow non-citizens to be certified, armed law enforcement officers in Georgia.” Seaver first became aware of the matter in reports from the Insider Advantage Georgia news outlet and the Immigration Politics GA website. “This disturbing idea is part of a quiet push to eliminate supposed ‘barriers to the foreign-born’ and includes an additional effort to relax verification of legal immigration status in our occupational licensing process. I want to make it very clear that legislation that would roll back security and public safety would not move in the Georgia senate when I am Lt. Governor.” “Including my opponents, I call on all Georgia candidates for public office to take a public stand on this dangerous and pandering insanity” said Seaver. Seaver was equally firm in her support for reasonable levels of legal immigration and welcoming all who have come to the U.S. lawfully in search of a better life. “Georgians happily welcome legally present workers of all descriptions. But we reject the idea that we should make it easier for illegal immigrants to obtain any help or approval to do business or find employment in the Peach State.” Learn more about Jeanne Seaver at https://seaverforltgov.com/ Paid for by Seaver for Lt. Governor, Inc. |
House committee on ‘barriers’ lacks transparency, continues one-sided agenda, escapes responsible media coverage in Dalton 3/4
No official video or audio record of state House hearing
Second proposal for foreign police officers in Georgia
Transparency was not part of the agenda at last week’s second meeting of a state House panel focused on removing “barriers to the foreign-born” – but the push for foreign law enforcement officers is still on. So is making it easier for illegal aliens to access occupational licenses in Georgia.
Last week’s meeting of the ’House Study Committee on Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent.’ was again a staged and one-sided affair that could easily have featured a party hat-clad dog riding atop a trotting pony. But I will wash your car if you can find any official archived record – video or audio – of the House meeting held at Dalton State College. 
Chairman Rep Wes Cantrell explained that “technical difficulties” would prevent video recording but assured all present there would be an (official) audio record. There isn’t. This writer was not alone in noting that the obvious “technical difficulty” on video was the fact that there was no dedicated video camera present.
The day’s recurring theme and basis of complaints from some solicited witnesses was that Georgia’s purported over-regulation of the “foreign-born” reduces profits. Apparently we are over doing it in insuring qualified personnel for occupational licensing. As this writer mentioned last month in a report on the first committee meeting, again there was a calculated effort to confuse foreign-born Americans with non-citizens.
An archived committee record would show witness assertions on how reducing the numbers of occupations that require a license, eliminating “antiquated restrictions” and reducing training periods for plumbers, electricians and HVAC workers (for example) to match regulations in South Carolina, North Carolina and California would result in a less costly licensing process – and more profit.
The final meeting is in “early October.” Nobody should be surprised to hear that Georgia could permanently capture the “number one for business” title if we eventually lower standards to fit third-world levels.
Cantrell’s committee meeting was one of the first this longtime denizen of the Gold Dome can remember that featured a witness in two different segments of the hearing. Darlene C. Lynch from the Business & Immigration for Georgia (‘BIG’) was featured twice as a speaker and seemed to be more involved in organizing the beginning of the day’s event than the chairman. Lynch was also heavily highlighted in the committee’s first meeting.
“Unnecessary” immigration status checks
In addition to the repeated push for foreign cops in the Peach State Lynch explained that on “overhauling licensing schemes”… “there’s a couple of different ways states are doing it. Um, one is to remove unnecessary immigration related requirements that don’t really matter for that particular profession.”
Currently, Georgia has laws in place designed to discourage illegal immigration through verification of “lawful presence” of applicants for business licenses, occupational licenses and other public benefits. This writer has worked on legislation surrounding those laws since 2005.
On his home turf, committee member Rep Kasey Carpenter (R- Dalton) injected his own view that “licensing should become less and less important because the consumers are actually able to assess the, the, the, the individual.” Carpenter used an Uber driver analogy in his reasoning on reducing state occupational licensing. “…we live in a world where, you know, you can thumbs up or thumbs down your Uber driver immediately. So you, you, you, you go to, to get an Uber, and he’s, you got a five star guy or you got a two star guy. Who do you think? You’d use the five star guy…”
On cost and supply of labor, Rob Bradham President and CEO of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce assured the committee that “making it easier to immigrate to the United States is the solution.” Nobody – including Bradham – submitted an estimate on the ideal number for the intake of annual “foreign-born.” But it sounded like American workers combined with the million legal immigrants the U.S. takes in every year, the 700,000-ish guest workers to whom we issue temporary visas annually and the 11-20 million or so illegal alien, “undocumented workers” are not enough to keep wages at the desired level.
As an example of forbidden facts and testimony at this House study committee and with the title “wage depression” our friends at the Washington D.C. – based NumbersUSA.com have an entire section on wage levels and imported labor.
News suppression by Dalton newspaper
Its not everyday a state House committee meets in Dalton. Most working Georgians cannot attend daytime meetings. It would be natural for area residents to assume they could get an informative and balanced account of the important event from the local newspaper. That was not the case. Dalton’s Daily Citizen-News – Charles Oliver reporting – suppressed much of the story including the proposed changes to state law on foreign cops and removing immigration checks on occupational licensing. Oliver was seated at the table next to mine in the meeting. That’s him looking at the camera on the left in the foreground in the photo on top. Earlier in the week I had sent him and his editor, Jamie Jones, our write up announcing the meeting which contained a photo of the agenda. It was clear Darlene Lynch was going to address “unnecessary immigration checks” and likely try to sell her idea of foreign cops again when she came up to speak for the second time. Along with his cell phone, audio recorder and notepad, Oliver was gone from his seat when I looked over after Lynch began speaking. He returned after she finished.
Meeting notice here. Program and players here. Photos here.
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A version of this column was originally posted on the subscription news outlet Insider Advantage Georgia, Sept. 16, 2021.
Seven 9/11 Hijackers Overstayed Visas – U.S. Still Has No Effective System to Monitor or Enforce Departures
“Never again,” indeed.
Breitbart News
11 September, 2021
Seven of the 19 Islamic terrorists who hijacked commercial planes on September 11, 2001 and killed nearly 3,000 Americans were able to remain in the United States after overstaying their visas thanks to a wide open loophole that has yet to be closed.
In total, all 19 terrorists arrived in the U.S. legally as 16 secured tourist visas and three obtained business and student visas. Eventually, the September 11 attacks they executed left thousands of Americans dead and more than 6,000 others injured.
Seven of the 19 terrorists overstayed their visas either before the attacks or at the time of the attacks. Despite U.S. immigration law requiring their detainment and potential deportation, none were detained or deported.
The seven terrorists who overstayed their visas include:
- Hani Hasan Hanjour of Saudi Arabia
- Nawaf al-Hamzi of Saudi Arabia
- Mohamed Atta of Egypt
- Satam al-Suqami of Saudi Arabia
- Waleed al-Shehri of Saudi Arabia
- Marwan al-Shehhi of the United Arab Emirates
- Ahmed al-Ghamdi of Saudi Arabia
Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), said in a statement that politicians in Washington, D.C. have yet to learn the lessons of the September 11 attacks.
“Twenty years ago, President George W. Bush ignored warnings about the threat of a terrorist attack on our soil and the dangers posed by lax immigration and border enforcement, and instead focused his efforts on providing amnesty to millions of illegal aliens,” Stein said:
Meanwhile, President Biden has eviscerated effective border enforcement policies he inherited when he took office and halted immigration enforcement in the interior of the country, providing newly emboldened global terrorist networks even greater opportunities to strike the United States.
The loophole the terrorists used to overstay their visas remains open despite warningsfrom the 9/11 Commission that a biometric entry/exit system is necessary to prevent future national security risks…. more here.
Biden regime intends to bypass immigration judges for asylum decisions at the border
“Bypassing immigration judges will crater the southern border – an unimaginable invitation to enter the United States illegally”
The Hill
BY MAY DAVIS, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 09/04/21
Imagine a store owner has a major shoplifting problem. The problem keeps getting worse because the court system is so backlogged that shoplifters rarely face consequences. Imagine, then, the store owner thinking, “I could allow everyone to take whatever they want, and I wouldn’t have anymore ‘shoplifting.’” Technically that is one way to go. Of course, the store owner goes bankrupt. And before you think what a dumb idea, this “solution” is what the Biden administration just proposed regarding illegal border entry.
On Aug. 20, the administration proposed an enormous immigration loophole that will exacerbate illegal border crossings. Right now, immigrants who cross illegally are required to be turned around — but an alien can avoid deportation by claiming “asylum.” To gain asylum, the applicant must prove that he is a refugee: unable to live in his home country because of “a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Only 9 to 15 percent of applicants end up meeting this standard (and many of those are from China and Venezuela). Indeed, mostso-called asylum seekers at the border don’t even bother to file for asylum because, once in the country, they face little chance of deportation.
The whole process takes too long. After a migrant crosses the border and claims asylum, an “asylum officer” determines whether the applicant is likely to qualify as a refugee. But asylum officers are not good at this. They approve more than 80 percent of the people they interview as having a “credible fear” of persecution. I’ve sat in on these interviews. The alien says: ‘I have a fear of my government because I disagree with my government’s politics.’ There’s no evidence, there’s no contrary story. So, even though only 15 percent of those claiming asylum end up qualifying legally as refugees, more than 80 percent of them clear the initial hurdle and are allowed into the country.
Once past the initial hurdle, an alien is released from custody and sent on his way to apply for full asylum through an “immigration judge.” For the few aliens who show up, it’s a court-like process. The alien, with an attorney, gives his story. The government gives any facts to the contrary. This process is absurdly backlogged. More than 600,000 applications for asylum are currently pending before immigration judges, meaning many aliens wait years before they are granted (or, most commonly, denied) full asylum status. Full asylum status allows immigrants to later apply for permanent resident status, with all the freedoms (travel, work) that accompany it.
To clean up the backlog, the administration has proposed letting asylum officers consider the full asylum claim. And the asylum officers would do this without an adversarial proceeding. What does this mean? If an alien shows up to the border and claims asylum, the alien will be given legal status and work authorization, without rigorous review.
That is an unimaginable invitation to enter the United States illegally.
The proposal comes with additional eyebrow raisers. For example, although border crossers are required to be detained through their initial credible fear hearings, the proposed rule would skirt that requirement by granting “parole” into the U.S. where detention is “impracticable.” The rule acknowledges that many people won’t show up to their credible fear hearing. As another example, the rule treats the credible fear hearing as an application for work authorization, despite the fact that this will transfer jobs away from U.S. workers.
Thus, the rule treats a problem — too many ‘asylum seekers’ who aren’t legitimate — by ushering everyone in more quickly.
The better solution is to…
Please read the rest here.
Will Georgia legalize foreign police officers? – House committee on “barriers” to foreign nationals meeting again in Dalton, Sept 9 *Updated 2/4
Updated Sept 8, 3:04 PM –
Just in: “The meeting will be held in Brown Hall, room 105. Brown Hall is located at the north end of our campus. When you enter the building, you will go down the stairs immediately in front of you & the room is at the foot of the stairs. There is a large parking lot adjacent to the building that you may utilize.
The GPS address is Brown Hall, 2206 Mt Haven Drive. Dalton, GA.”
Pro-American voters in North Georgia should attend the next meeting of the ‘House Study Committee on Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent’ when it meets again at Dalton State College on September 9, 2021 (10:30 AM). It’s a great opportunity to get a sample of what you miss by not being in the Georgia Capitol during the legislative session. Thursday’s meeting is the second of three scheduled hearings for the committee assigned to recommend ways to eliminate “barriers” for foreign nationals in the state economy that supposedly exist in Georgia law.
In the first meeting we heard leftist activist Darlene Lynch explain that “restrictions” should be lifted that currently require law enforcement officers in Georgia to be U.S. citizens. And an illegal alien who is paid to lobby legislators under the Gold Dome – Jaime Rangel – explained that illegal aliens should pay less tuition than U.S. citizens and legal immigrants in Georgia’s public universities. A refugee from Africa explained that she should be paid more taxpayer money every month so that she could go to school instead of working. We wrote that meeting up here. It’s worth a read. Hit the links.
Look for more of the same from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and other assorted open borders types at Thursday’s meeting. Dalton’s own Rep Kasey Carpenter is a committee member. Conservative testimony not permitted. I plan on wearing my Dog & Pony Show clothes.
The official meeting notice is (finally) here. The program and players agenda is pasted below.
Coming to America But Afghan Men Abandon their Wives, Young Children in Afghanistan – New York Times
New York Times: Afghan Men Leave their Wives, Young Children in Afghanista
Breitbart News
31 August 2021
John Binder
Many Afghan men left behind in Kabul, Afghanistan, their wives and young children, the New York Times reports.
Two men, specifically, profiled by the Times reveal that as they fled Afghanistan when the United States started withdrawing U.S. Armed Forces from the country, they left behind their wives and young children — often those most at risk from Taliban control.
The Times reports:
Gul joined the frenzy, jumping onto four commercial planes — all grounded by the mayhem — before forcing his way onto an American evacuation flight. Even when Americans turned off the air-conditioning and told everyone the plane was broken, no one budged. [Emphasis added]
Now, settling into life at Camp As Sayliyah, he said the snap decision to leave weighed on him. His wife and three children under the age of 6 remain in Kabul. [Emphasis added]
…
Mirwais, 31, arrived at the air base in Qatar after clambering onto an American evacuation flight last week. A former translator for U.S. forces and international organizations, he went into hiding when the Taliban entered Kabul and decided to leave after insurgents searching for him visited his mother’s home. [Emphasis added]
Like Gul, Mirwais has a wife and a 10-month-old child who remain in Afghanistan after he failed to get them on evacuation flights. Mirwais told the Times he has no passport and no paperwork with him… Read the rest here.
Georgia House committee with immigration focus solicits one-sided, activist input 1/4
Study Committee on Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent (including foreign cops) excludes pro-American worker voices
“Foreign-born” depicted as victims of over regulation in Georgia economy
Readers who would oppose state legislation to allow foreign nationals to be certified law enforcement officers in Georgia may want to prepare their resistance. It’s a goal of one participant in last week’s meeting of the ‘House Study Committee on Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent.’
Many thanks to Insider Advantage Georgia for last week’s news report (pay wall) educating readers on the existence of this committee and the Clarkston – located meeting.
Chairman Rep Wes Cantrell (R) – Woodstock) outlined his committee’s purpose at the August 19 meeting “…this committee has been formed to identify and make recommendations for removal of any barriers that limit the impact of our foreign-born population.” He made it clear input from the corporate-funded “expert” witnesses had been solicited.
The speakers offered repeated attempts to blur any distinction in context between “foreign-born” and residents who are foreign nationals. Most Georgians, including this one, don’t have a problem with naturalized Americans becoming law enforcement officers. But that’s not what the activist from Business & Immigration for Georgia Darlene C. Lynch was selling.
“We have outdated barriers and regulations that are preventing people from contributing to the economy. Foreign-born people who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan in the military security system who can’t be police officers in their own community in Georgia because we have restrictive regulations in Georgia” was part of Lynch’s presentation.
What is the “restrictive regulation?” Police officers in Georgia must be U.S. citizens.
There were many references to “barriers” for “foreign-born Georgians”, but little detail on exactly what barriers are in place keeping any legally present individual from full participation in the Georgia economy. We won’t be surprised to see an expansion of the agenda. Will the state E-Verify laws requiring verification of work eligibility for newly hired employees come up as an “outdated barrier” in a future meeting? We’ll see.
There was no opportunity for public input beyond the pre-arranged witnesses. There should be.
This pro-enforcement writer is a long-time, reluctant denizen of the Gold Dome who has assisted lawmakers with legislation aimed at discouraging illegal immigration by deterring access to illegal employment and illegal access to public benefits. After attending last Tuesday’s event I asked for the opportunity to provide more realistic input in either of the two upcoming committee meetings. That request was quickly denied.
It may be true that the first 236 names in the Hahira phone directory have at least as much knowledge on immigration as most Georgia legislators. So the day’s entry-level lesson for the committee had a segment on “key terms.”
Legislators were told that an “immigrant” is “a person who has left their country of nationality to live permanently in a new country.” This is true in a dictionary, but not in practice. Managing language and the endless effort to blur any line between legal immigrants and illegal aliens is the bedrock of the open border lobbying effort. Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than green card holders.
Real immigrants do not require amnesty
The mindset presented to the attentive committee is that the million-plus illegal aliens who have already crossed our southern border this year are merely “immigrants.” And the foreign-born who routinely enter the U.S. on legal, non-immigrant, temporary visas and become illegal aliens when they refuse to leave are as worthy of accommodation as the million foreign-born we naturalize every year. Fact: For the seventh consecutive year, in 2019 visa overstays exceeded illegal border crossings (NPR).
Not all committee members are elected officials
The committee on eliminating “barriers” has two non-legislator members who will effect the coming recommendations for any legislation.
Legislators are Wes Cantrell (R), Woodstock (Chair), Kasey Carpenter (R), Dalton, Mike Cheokas (R), Americus, Angelika Kausche, (D), Johns Creek and Spencer Frye, (D), Athens. Carpenter was absent.
Also Shushma Barakoti from the Refugee Women’s Network and Rene Diaz, CEO of Diaz Foods. Diaz is a past Atlanta Business Chronicle ‘Top 100 Most Influential Atlantans.’ He and his wife Barbara are a “Buckhead Power Couple.” Diaz is also Founding Friend of the well-known anti-enforcement, immigration lobbying group GALEO Inc.
One of the witnesses on a panel discussion was an illegal alien DACA recipient, Jaime Rangel – who is a lobbyist under the Gold Dome for Mark Zuckerburg’s pro-amnesty FWDus.
For this writer, the most irrelevant, eye-rolling remarks of the day came from state Rep Spencer Frye as he introduced himself to the room. “Unless anybody in here is full-blooded American Indian, I reckon we’re all immigrants of some sort.” Frye did not speculate on from where the Indians migrated. But he did follow with “while I look like I look, I am absolutely descended from immigrants to the United States of America.”
Official House video of the committee meeting here. Photos here. Program and players here. The next meeting is at Dalton State College, September 9th and a final meeting in the state Capitol in early October.
A version of this column originally appeared (August 25, 2021) on the subscription outlet Insider Advantage Georgia as an OPED.
VIDEO: WSJ:Help wanted and wages going up – solution for business? Higher immigration numbers and a repeat of the failed amnesty of 1986
Many employers are having to recruit, train, and increase pay and benefits for U.S. workers. That’s a good thing for workers. But Cheap Labor Lobby sees it as apocalypse, and continues pressure in D.C. for massive increases in immigration.- NumbersUSA on Twitter
WSJ.com
Employers Competing for Workers Turn to Signing Bonuses and Freebies
Incentives are now being offered to hourly workers
Video here.
Rep Wes Cantrell denies my request to offer reality-based input into House Committee on Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent
Email reply to my request to offer realistic input in Rep Cantrell’s House committee. Like the committee’s choice of “experts” the reply itself is separated from reality
Mr. King,
Thank you for your email.
Our study committee has a very tight agenda in order to hear from as many people as possible. We have determined to hold public comment until after our report is drawn up. If any legislation is proposed as a result of our hearings, there will be time for ample public comment.
We are focused on identifying any unnecessary barriers that foreign born Georgians may have in finding meaningful employment. We will primarily be hearing from people who believe they have experienced one or more of these barriers.
I’m sure the committee would welcome any written input you would like to provide.
Very Respectfully,
Wes Cantrell
