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Updated 5:38 PM June 15: I think I repaired the typos. I inserted a few more links to educate the reader. dak

 

Immigration “reform” and a “path to citizenship” would be the largest single addition to Democrat voter roles in history.

When asked about his “…priority immigration legislation for the country” if elected to congress in the June 9, 2024 GA 03 candidate debate in Atlanta, Mike Dugan replied with an immediate reference to immigration “reform.”

Q: “Senator, while you were working in the State House, you worked on several Georgia-specific ways to regulate immigration. If elected into Congress, the picture gets much bigger in what you could do. What would be your priority immigration legislation for the country?

Mike Dugan: “I think I would… It’s a two-part deal. Uh, first, before we do any immigration reform, we have to shut down the border. The- the border situation right now, it’s a- it’s a local public safety issue, it’s a humanitarian issue, it’s a national security issue. Until we shut that down with federal government working in coordination with the states, not in opposition to, we can’t really discuss immigration reform. Once it… border is shut down, then we do need to take a long, hard look at immigration reform ’cause we need new people coming into the country. We need skill sets that we had… don’t have readily available up in the numbers that we need here in- in the U.S. So that there… It’s a two-part deal, and you can’t do both of ’em at the same time.”

Audio:

 

A heads-up from here for trusting Republican voters voters who only read the daily headlines and get their “facts” from “the news”: On immigration, “reform” is the establishment code for amnesty. Legalization – like 1986. Make ’em legal – like 1986. Give them a work permit. It’s the mo’ money answer to illegal immigration that has been tossed out by politicians for the twenty years I have been active on immigration. Dugan’s answer is that we will “shut down” the border then we will “reform” immigration so as to create more (legal) workers and then we will import more immigrants because we need “skill sets.”

It’s amnesty and increased immigration – and “we’ll tell you when the border is ‘shut down’. Trust us.”

• Related reading: “Immigration Reform” Equals Amnesty for Illegal Aliens and Their Employers

If voting Republicans were allowed even a shred of useful education and knowledge on the immigration reality and what happened in 1986, Dugan would likely only get votes from the business community.

This pro-enforcement advocate watched Dugan in the state Senate for the entire eleven years he was there. While not very illegal immigration vote he made was bad, many were horrible in that he went along with the “anything for a buck” agenda of the real bosses of much of Georgia state government – The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Big Ag and the lobbyists for business interests.

Perhaps the most memorable is Dugan’s support for the 2023 Democrat bill, SB 264 as second signer. That beauty was pushed by a lobbyist for the refugee industry, Darlene Lynch (she/her). Lynch boasts of her partnership with the Georgia Chamber in something they call “Business and Immigration for Georgia (“BIG”)and uses that connect to sell bills to wayward Republicans who are directed to create a larger work force quicker at any cost. (Lynch once promoted the idea of reciprocity in occupational licenses not only with other states, but other nations.)

SB 264 with lead sponsor Democrat Kim Jackson was dropped in the state Senate in February of 2023. When it was presented in the GOP-run Senate Higher Education Committee, it was Lynch who did most of the talking. The entire purpose of the bill was to change long standing state law on the requirement that newly arrived Georgia residents live in the state for twelve months before they can be regarded as “residents” for purposes of instate tuition at our taxpayer funded colleges and tech schools. With Dugan as the number two sponsor, the language of the bill would have allowed foreign nationals who came to the U.S. as refugees, “Special Visa Immigrants” (mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan) and recipients of the biden administration’s seemingly endless “humanitarian parole” to skip the waiting twelve month period – they would have been eligible for the huge reduction in tuition of instate tuition the day they arrived here. Americans moving here from Michigan and the rest of the nation would still be required to wait for a year before qualifying for the lower tuition rate.

I referred to SB 264, Sen. Mike Dugan cosponsor, as (yet another) “Americans last” measure.

It gets worse. When I wrote about the legislation in my regular column in Dugan’s home town newspaper, The (Carroll County) Star News, the editor gave my copy to Dugan who was able to write a rebuttal in the same edition. Point by point Dugan misrepresents the bill and even told readers it had never even seen a hearing – and that it didn’t;t matter anyway because the bill was dead because the 2023 session had ended. The fact is that I watched the hearing, and that Georgia runs on a biennial system for the legislature- the bill was quite alive for the 2024 session. I think he had Lynch write his response to me and never even checked it.

• You can read about that bizarre response and my fact check here.

There is a lot more, but if voters liked Paul Ryan and John McCain on immigration, they should look forward to Mike Dugan going to Washington.

I know very little about Dugan’s primary runoff opponent.

 

              

• Update: To none’s surprise, Gov. Kemp quietly signed SB 354 into law on May 2, 2024

     Pro-enforcement readers have a chance to take an active role in preventing the Republicans in the state Capitol from dismantling long-standing state law aimed at illegal immigration. I respectfully urge you to take advantage of the opportunity.

Maybe the illegal aliens most members of the General Assembly have invited to Georgia won’t murder another college co-ed. You never know, right? For all but two Republican legislators under the Gold Dome, that possibility is merely the cost of “workforce development,” Georgia being “number one for business!” and obedience of directives from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

Senate Bill 354 is an anti-enforcement bill concocted by the Georgia Chamber and sponsored by Senators Larry Walker (R- Perry), Brian Strickland (R-McDonough), Jason Anavitarte (R- Dallas), Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), Kim Jackson (D-Atlanta), Steve Gooch (R- Dahlonega), John F. Kennedy (R-Macon), and Randy Robertson (R- Cataula). The stated goal is to make it easier to go to work in Georgia.

What does SB 354 do? It dismantles state law put in place in 2006 that requires all applicants for occupational licenses to swear on an affidavit that they are not an illegal alien. False swearing is a felony. The law is OCGA 50-36-1 – “verification of lawful presence.” It’s part of the occupational licensing process – if the licensing process goes away, the immigration check goes too. Which, again, is exactly what SB 354 does for covered jobs.

The legislation applies to low skilled personnel in the barbering/cosmetology industry and removes the requirement for accessing an occupational license for the covered workers. Next year’s edition will be aimed at more occupations because according to a Sen. Larry Walker-sponsored Resolution passed by the GOP-ruled Senate last year, occupational licensing in Georgia is “burdensome and onerous.”

Despite this writer’s frantic effort to stop the bill by explaining all this to key Republican lawmakers, the bill was sent to Gov. Kemp’s desk on March 26. Only two Republicans in the General Assembly voted against the measure – House Reps Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) and Kimberly New (R- Villa Rica). Yes, you read that correctly – zero Republican state senators voted “no” and only two Republicans in the House.

• Related reading: Email to GA Rep Alan Powell on SB 354 as instructed by his assistant 

It should be noted that the immigration verification law under attack from the “anything-for-a-buck” crowd under the Gold Dome was put in place as part of SB 529, the ‘Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006.’ It was signed by Republican Governor Sonny Perdue that year. It began the committee process in the Senate Public Safety committee chaired by then state Senator Brian Kemp who told the liberal Atlanta Journal Constitution at the time that many Georgians are “fed up” with illegal immigration. Indeed.

Will Kemp sign a bill that dismantles state illegal immigration laws that he helped put on the books? The smart money says “yes”, unless he knows a lot of GOP voters are watching.

The bottom line is this: Only a veto from Kemp can stop SB 354 from becoming law in Georgia. If that happens, we should all grasp that more bills with the same goals will pass next year and thereafter. Gov. Brian Kemp will not veto this bill without public pressure.

Honest.

Please call the Capitol office of Gov. Brian Kemp (404-656-1776) and leave a message with the staffer asking him to veto SB 354.

I’ll wash your car if you speak up.

 

The above column was published in the Coastal Georgia newspaper The Islander on April 8, 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The below transcript and this link to video is from MSNBC on Dec. 13, 3023. 

 

MSNBC host:

“Want to bring in Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, who represents a border district. He’s also the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee, uh, for Homeland Security. Congressman, thanks for joining us on this. Um, appreciate it.

So you just heard our report, um, from Julia on the ground there at a key town, um, in Arizona, very remote as well. Um, we’re hearing more detentions, uh, more deportations. That is the plan, it seemed, that’s coming from negotiators. Um, by critics it’s being called, um, Title 42 on steroids. Where do you stand on this?

Congressman Henry Cuellar:

Well, you know, certainly, I, I’m one of those that I believe that we should have detentions and we should deport people that don’t have a legal right to be here.

Look, you know, the asylum law is very clear. You gotta have state persecution based on five things: race, nationality, political belief, religion, uh, part of a social, uh, uh, class. Uh, and if you don’t fit that, you know, you can come here for a job, you can come here for economic reasons, you can come in for so many other reasons. They don’t quality. So why are we allowing everybody to come in? Uh, most people that have come in stay here for five years and then have an immigration judge, uh, deport them.

Uh, I live at the border, and, and we been talking about this since 2013. Uh, and if you look at some of the past experiences that we’ve had with different administrations, I think President, um, Obama, uh, along with Secretary Jay Johnson, I think they had it right. They gave people their, uh, you know, their, their claim to asylum. But at the end of the day, they deported people, they detained people, and they just did one thing. They enforced Title 8.

MSNBC host:

So then, Congressman, wha- what is to be done, if I’m hearing you right? H-, because as Julia said, um, folks are critical of more detentions, more deportations. You’re looking at detentions in perpetuity. There’s really no end in sight. You have folks that are trekking for days upon days with young children, um, then being turned around, um, a- and deported, mistreated. What is the solution then?

Congressman Henry Cuellar:

Well, just what I said. You gotta enforce the law. Look, the, the, the asylum law is very clear.

MSNBC host:

But they’re gonna keep coming.

Congressman Henry Cuellar:

It-

MSNBC host:

They’re gonna keep coming.

Congressman Henry Cuellar:

Yeah, uh, um, I … No, no, no. Let me tell you something. If you, if, if you had repercussions at the border, uh, like we did under President Obama, then the numbers would certainly go down. It won’t eliminate them to a hu-, uh, you know, to zero, but it will bring them down where it’s a lots more manageable do it. If you don’t have repercussions at the border … If you and I were down there and then we said, “Hey look, uh, they gotta … We can get to the US border and then they gonna let us in,” of course, we’re gonna pay the $8,000 to our coyote, uh, to the bad people to come in. But if I had a … If you and I saw that we would probably be held and then deported because we don’t qualify, I would think about that and you would think about that. It’s simple repercussions that you gotta have at the border following what the law is right now.

MSNBC host:

Um, Congressman, your c-, your fellow Congressional Hispanic Caucus members say it’s not right that’s there no Latino representation, um, in any of, of these talks. And along with that, they think it’s setting a dangerous precedent and giving in to Republicans when it comes to immigration, um, reform and getting aid for Ukraine. Where do you stand on this?

Congressman Henry Cuellar:

Well, look, I, I, I respect my colleagues. They certainly have a different opinion. But some of us have been talking about this since 2013. You know, you talk to some of us on the border, we think a little differently. Uh, I don’t have any sanctuary cities. I don’t have any, uh, uh, public officials that say, “Let them in, let them in.” We’ve been dealing with this migrant situation for so many years. Now that New York, now that Chicago, Washington DC, Colorado, Massachusetts, and other places are feeling what we felt, this is what we’ve been talking about this. I don’t call this a Republican idea, because some of us pushed this idea before some of those Republicans were even in office. Uh, we just wanna see one thing at the border. We want to see law and order. We wanna s-, don’t wanna see chaos at the border.

But at the same time, we wanna respect the migrants’, uh, rights and their claim to asylum. But again, the law is very clear. Persecution by a state, by a state based on five things. And those … Uh, most of those folks do not qualify. They do not qualify.

MSNBC host:

Do you think it’s important, sir, to have Latino representation in these talks?

Congressman Henry Cuellar:

Well, you know, uh, Secretary Mayorkas is certainly involved, uh, in, in the talks. Uh, I have talked to some of the folks, uh, about it. Uh, uh, y-, in fact some of the ideas that they’re looking at are ideas that I’ve talked about it. Uh, certainly, uh, you know, the Senate should have, uh, Latinos. But it’s not only Latinos that should be involved. I mean, it’s, it’s one of those things that, you know, we wanna make sure that the migrant rights … because right now, migrants are not coming only from-

MSNBC host:

Right.

Congressman Henry Cuellar:

… Latin America. They’re coming in from 50-plus countries across the world. End.

 

 

 

• UPDATE, May 6, 2024: As we feared, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones put SB 354 on the Senate floor after being educated from here on the fact that it dismantled the existing process that requires the verification of lawful presence for applicants for covered occupational licenses. According to Gov. Kemp’s website, SB 354 was a a “high priority” for Lt. Gov. Jones. Kemp signed SB 354 into law on May 2. Readers can catch up on SB 354 here.

 

“I think right now, we’ve got more laws on the books than we can enforce, and I think this ought to be a good time, now more than ever, to, uh, show that we are really conservatives, and we are really about small government, and that’s about, uh, repealing useless pieces of legislation, things of that nature.” – Lt Gov Burt Jones

Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones was a guest on the Martha Zoller radio show, Nov.6, 2023 to talk about his rollout of the effort to reduce regulation and make businesses more efficient. He calls it the “Red Tape Rollback initiative.”

• Note: We hope and trust that the Lt. Gov will not help pass the sure-to-come efforts to dismantle laws that we fought hard to put in place to deter illegal employment and illegal immigration – like OCGA 50-36-1 as an example. And we are happy to hear about concerns with public safety. Maybe this means there will be a focus on strengthening and beginning to enforce our anti-sanctuary city laws. Because we now have sanctuary counties.

Audio here. Transcript by Rev.com below.

My cost: $22.00 and about an hour.

Update: Nov 8, 2023: Later in the day many state Senators stood with Lt. Gov Jones to support his Roll Back Regs for business initiative. Photo below.

__

 

Martha Zoller:

It is the Martha Zoller show. We’re gonna continue our discussion on what is happening in Israel with Hamas and all of that, but we’re gonna bring it back closer to home right now, because the best thing we can do, as Americans, as Georgians, is to do the best we can with what we have here in this country. Uh, there are a lot of things that are out of our control, and I know that that is frustrating to people.

And joining me right now is Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, who has been working hard in the off session, uh, on kind of letting people know what his plans are gonna be going forward into the next legislative session. Uh, Lieutenant Governor Jones, thank you for being with me today.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Hey, Martha. Good to be with you. Hope you’re doing well this morning-

Martha Zoller:

Thank-

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

… and thank you for having me on.

Martha Zoller:

Sure thing. Tell us about this red tape rollback initiative and what it’s going to do.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Yeah. I mean, it’s a pretty simple concept. We always talk about being conservative, uh, Republicans and have less government and things of that nature. But you know, every year, ever since I’ve been up in the legislature, we always pass more and more bills, more and more legislative, uh, that people have to, uh, abide by either, either from a business standpoint or individually.

And I said, “You know what? The second half of the biennial, uh, why don’t we, uh, start, uh, taking some, some, uh, legislation off the books and useless, uh, uh, regulations and things of that nature?”

Uh, because I think right now, we’ve got more laws on the books than we can enforce, and I think this ought to be a good time, now more than ever, to, uh, show that we are really conservatives, and we are really about small government, and that’s about, uh, repealing useless pieces of legislation, things of that nature.

And, uh, it’s gonna range from, I, I gave the Senators a, uh, I gave ’em kind of free, free fall, just told ’em to, you know, “Bring to us what you think, uh, uh, in, in your area doesn’t, doesn’t warrant, uh, uh, being on the books, and we’ll look at it and talk, uh, look at [inaudible 00:02:00] repealing it, uh, this upcoming session.”

Martha Zoller:

You know, in Texas, they do two-year budgets, and in the off year, they do oversight. They just, they go basically through the budget looking th- for problems like you’re talking about.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Mm-hmm.

Martha Zoller:

Senator Isakson, before his death, he had introduced that a number of times in, um, the United States Senate on the federal level. And you know, I don’t, it’s not, it didn’t go anywhere. But you know, it’s not a bad idea, and we used to, a long time ago, have this thing where e- a department a year went through kind of an up and down view of almost every line in their budget. So I love this idea of looking for where we’ve overlapped, looking for regulations, all of that sort of thing, because there are some tools in place that we could use that would really make us more efficient.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Oh, no question. Yeah. Looking at agencies and duplication of services and things of that nature [inaudible 00:02:55] definitely s- something that I’m glad you told me that, uh, Johnny Isakson, that was his i- his idea at the federal level, because you know, I’ve always, uh, admired, uh, his service to our state and everything.

And, and, uh, you know, and it does. It needs to be looked at every, uh, um, o- occasionally, you know. What are we doing? How can we, uh, serve the people of Georgia better, uh, whether it be through, uh, eliminating some regulatory things that are not needed, duplication of services and things of that nature?

And I, I figured there’s no better time than the second half of a biennial, when a lot of people are looking at their reelections and things of that nature, um, that it, it’d be nice for ’em to be able to go home and, and tell people, “Instead of, instead of more restraints that we’ve put on, uh, citizens, there, here’s some of the things that we did to, uh, to alleviate some of the burdens that we might have and, uh, whether it be an interpersonal level or business level or whatever.” So we’re excited about it and, uh, I appreciate you having me on to showcase it.

Martha Zoller:

Well, one of the things you’re also looking at is expanding the definition of small business. And we know that most Georgians work for what’s defined as a small business. So how would that help? And how would that work?

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Well, you know, I mean, yeah. I don’t know how, how you can, uh, you know, I, I consider, uh, my business a small business, you know, but I, but some people might not, uh, consider that.

But I will say this, uh, because the things that, um, when, when companies are trying to get permitting or, and, and things of that nature, either at the local level or through Secretary of State’s Office, uh, th- they need to, I always tell people, “There needs to be a, some sort of a timeframe in which they know that they can, uh, expect a result.”

You know, and, uh, so many times, I see businesses held up, uh, by either local, uh, permitting processes or engineering processes, things of that nature, or the Secretary of State’s level, where they’re just trying to get somebody to call ’em back and, and, and issue a, a renewal license, things of that nature.

So we’re, we’re gonna look at all those things and see what, what we can do better. Uh, there’s always places that we can improve. And, um, and, uh, and so that’s what, that’s what the nature of this exercise is and the, and the upcoming session is gonna be about.

Martha Zoller:

So school safety, I know, is something you’re focusing on, you talked about last week.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Sure.

Martha Zoller:

And, um, uh, I’m on the State Board of Education and, and I, you know, it’s something we think about. And I will tell you, too, that Will Schofield, who’s the longest serving superintendent in the state of Georgia, he, he’s the superintendent for Hall County, one of the things he’s doing is he says, “If you look at school shootings, it’s usually somebody we know. It’s somebody who was-“

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Mm-hmm.

Martha Zoller:

“… affiliated with our school, maybe went to our school, worked at our school.” G- Generally, it’s not-

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Sure.

Martha Zoller:

… some random person that just comes into the school. And what they’re doing is, um, teaching, from teachers all the way down to students, how to interact, how to deal with difficult situations, how to, how to deal with their feelings and all of that kind of stuff. So he’s all for hardening schools and doing those ki- things, but he’s making huge, uh, progress in lowering the level of violence in the schools in Hall County across the board by teaching these skills. And I think that’s something worth looking at.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Mm-hmm. No. I’d definitely love to speak with him about that, Martha. Maybe you could fac- can facilitate that [inaudible 00:06:15].

Martha Zoller:

I would absolutely do that. (laughs)

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

What, what we, uh, what we rolled out, uh, it was a grant program that, it really got misconstrued, misrepresented-

Martha Zoller:

I agree. Yeah.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

… in the media is, uh, is i- it was, it was basically a grant program for those school systems’ school boards that would want to participate, uh, and, and they could use dollars to, uh, to beef up security, to hire off-duty police officers, things of that nature.

And, uh, and also, if, if they so choose, they could, they could have a staff member, uh, who would be, um, uh, if, if gone through the proper training, could, training, could be, also serve as the on-staff, uh, security [inaudible 00:06:54] as well. But of course, you know, the, the liberal media blew it up as if we were trying to arm every schoolteacher.

And at the end of the day, we’re not taking anything away from the local school boards and what their abilities are, uh, in governing, uh, school systems. All we were trying to do is for those systems that really can’t afford, uh, to be able to have, uh, extra security, law enforcement agencies on, on the staff, uh, then they would be able to be given a, a grant that could potentially help ’em do that.

So, um, but I love your concept about what your Hall County Superintendent’s doing and would love to… All, all we’re trying to do is find the best way possible that we can ensure that our schools are safe, our kids and our teachers are safe. And, and we’re gonna explore every option, uh, there is out there to do so.

Martha Zoller:

Absolutely. So tell us a little more about what you’re working on for this next session, because I know we’re, we’re in the throes of hearings and study groups and all that kind of stuff. What’s on your radar?

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Uh, I know. I know. Well, you know, well, well, we’ve got a special session coming up, obviously, with the, um, you know, having to look at the maps that a judge, uh, you know, ruled, uh, against the maps we’d drawn, so we’re gonna have to do that here in a couple weeks right after, um, Thanksgiving, I guess.

But, uh, you know, this coming session, it’s gonna be a lot like sessions in the past. We’re gonna look at, uh, you know, how we can, uh, continue to make, uh, the, um, uh, Georgia economy one of the best and the state to do business in.

We’re gonna look at how we can improve our K-12 education. I’m a big proponent of, of, uh, of the school choice measure that we put forth this past year.

And obviously, public safety is a huge, a huge thing every year. And we’re gonna continue to do things to see how we can la- help local and state governments with, uh, public safety.

And, and, uh, and so, um, you know, those are all, those are all a- all measures that are, that are, um, that are at the legislature every, every session. And we’ll, we’ll continue to look at how we can best put our, put our spin and touches on the, on the whatever the final p- product looks like at the end of the session.

Martha Zoller:

If people need to interact with your office, uh, Lieutenant Governor, how can they do that?

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Oh, yeah. They can go to, uh, Burt, uh, Jones for GA, burtjonesforga.com, uh, or they can, uh, go to lieutenant governor for Jones, uh, for, on the, uh, official side, luca- luca- lieutenantgovernorburtjones.com on the official side. And, and, uh, and we’re one of those, um, Martha, we’re one of those that we aim to please. We’ve got a great, uh, customer service or public relations, uh, team that ne- any time somebody has an issue, they can give us a call. We’ll be happy to, uh, uh, try to, try to best assist ’em in whatever their issues are.

Martha Zoller:

Yeah. I mean, I’m getting great feedback on your constituent services through your office, so I wanted to make sure people knew how they could do that.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Sure. Absolutely. Well, I appreciate you having me on today, Martha.

Martha Zoller:

Thanks.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

And always a, always a pleasure to be with you.

Martha Zoller:

Thank you so much. Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, about his rollout of trying to reduce regulation and make businesses more efficient. This is one of the things he promised to voters when he was elected, and it’s one of the things he’s, he is trying to do now. We’ll be back on the Martha Zoller show.

 

Martha was talking about immigration amnesty again when I tuned in for about 20 minutes today. She must do it a lot. Here is what I heard when I listened in Tuesday.

Apparently Martha has changed her mind again. Two days ago her amnesty eligibility period for illegal aliens who have escaped law enforcement was for  20 years. Now her amnesty eligibility is after 25 years and on a “case-by-case” basis. It’s very Newt-ish.

 

 

• “In the Reagan Library debate in September (2011), Speaker (Newt) Gingrich admitted he favored a path other than enforcing existing law regarding illegal immigrants:

“…find a way to deal with folks who are already here, some of whom, frankly, have been here 25 years, are married with kids, live in our local neighborhood, go to our church. It’s got to be done in a much more humane way than thinking that to automatically deport millions of people.” (“2012 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate,” NBC, transcript: www.nytimes.com, 11/7/2011)  – Here, from The American Presidency Project.

• We point out, yet again, that we do not need to deport millions of people all at once and that the concept of Attrition Through Enforcement is the answer to this intentional “hide-the-workable-solution” hustle. Martha knows this.
• And we note again that it is impossible for an “undocumented worker” to be in the U.S. and not violate American law “other than coming here illegally.” As we have been saying, the use of a false Social Security Number or card is a felony, punishable by a fine, and up to five years in prison.The below is transcribed (Rev.com) from the closing minutes of The Martha Zoller radio show, WDEN radio, Oct. 26, 2023 Audio above.My cost $24.00 and about 2 hours.

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Martha Zoller

Scroll down to around the red arrow.

 

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

… like, and again, I have only known Mike Johnson for like, three days. I mean, I really didn’t know who he was.

Speaker 2 ( I think his name is “Rod” and is sometimes a c0-host?):

Yeah-

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

I want to know, is he a happy warrior? He sounds like a happy warrior. You know, that-

Speaker 2:

I was a happy warrior.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Meaning that he can be tough and firm, but he’s not-

Speaker 2:

Oh, okay.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

… difficult. Like Regan. Regan was a happy warrior. People liked being around him, even though he was tough in negotiating.

Speaker 2:

Well, we about to find out.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

You know, Mike Collins said it the other day. You need to be liked, and you need to be trusted.

Speaker 2:

That makes sense.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

To be a good leader. It’s true.

Speaker 2:

It’s huge.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Liked-

Speaker 2:

Absolutely true.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

… and trusted.

Speaker 2:

But, you need to also have that third component. I can- I can bear not being liked, as long as I stay honest in, uh, following the truth.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

No, it’s true. It’s absolutely true. But that’ll make people like you. If they know, over time they’re gonna get the truth from you. You can-

Speaker 2:

I like that.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

You can join us on the phones at 770-535-2911. My friend Frank, uh, sent me this, uh, video to watch, and he said, uh, “I know you don’t like Matt Gates, and so, I don’t know if you’re gonna watch this.” And I did watch as much of it as I could stand, um, because I don’t like Matt Gates. I think Matt Gates is trying to play this as if he intended for Mike Johnson to be the Speaker all along-

Speaker 2:

(laughs)

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

… and that it was all because of him and the other seven, that got rid of Kevin McCarthy, that they got Mike Johnson. That’s not true. Okay? And look, Steve Bannon-

Speaker 2:

… Well, trust me, it is.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Steve Bannon was in this video too, and I know Steve Bannon also. And you know, I don’t dislike Steve Bannon, but the two of them together will- making me nauseous.

Speaker 2:

Uh-huh.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

And I just think that he’s not- Steve Bannon is more trustworthy than Matt Gates, and that’s saying a lot. Let’s go to the phones now and talk to Elizabeth in Gainesville. Hey, Elizabeth, how you doing?

Elizabeth in Gainesville:

I’m doing good, ab- good Martha, and good [inaudible 00:02:06].

Speaker 4:

Hello.

Elizabeth in Gainesville:

Um, thank- yes, y’all are- y’all are wonderful, I love you.

Speaker 4:

Thank you.

Elizabeth in Gainesville:

And I- I just wanted, my comment is, is that Joe Biden is a puppet, he’s a globalist, [inaudible 00:02:21] loves him, and he’s doing what the globalists want him to. To downgrade the United States and get us to the point we’re no longer a superpower, and that’s what the border is all about. The border is about flooding us with all kinds of bad things, with drugs, and with the expense of all these people coming in, it’s not sustainable. That’s what I think is going on, and, um, he’s a puppet, Joe Biden is a puppet, because he’s always got this plausible deniability of, “Well, you know, he’s mentally slipping, and maybe he doesn’t mean it,” and all this kind of stuff. That’s just plausible deniability, he’s a great puppet, and he’s exactly who the globalists want. At this time, I’ll hang up and listen to your response.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Well, thank you very much. Um, you know, one of the questions that I got, um, related to, uh, the last visit that we had from Senator Ossoff, and I’m trying to find the answers, because, you know, I- I finally did get some answers from Senator Ossoff, um, uh, office, related to these questions. Here we go. I just want to be sure we get all of ’em in here. Um, we had three questions, and one of ’em was about the border, and I want to get to this so that I get the right answer.

Um, he said, “The border is a real problem.” I asked if he was gonna sponsor the House Bill 2A, House Resolution 2A. “The border is a real problem. The disorderly flow of migrants is a national security risk. There are a few Democrats who don’t seem to recognize that, and there are a few Republicans who don’t seem to recognize that trying to deport millions of undocumented people who are already here is a non-starter. I just helped move a bill through the Senate Homeland Security to add 600 more Border Agents. I’m looking for more solutions. If HR2 heads to the Senate floor, I will study it in detail.”

Now, it’s been passed on the House side, so it could, if you ask for it to go to the Senate floor, it could go to the Senate floor, Senator, uh, Ossoff. But, the thing about not trying- why is it a non-starter to deport undocumented people?

Speaker 4:

Well-

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

That’s what I don’t understand.

Speaker 4:

I kind of wanted to ask the- that, too.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Yeah.

Speaker 4:

And I’d like- jump- I’m not gonna jump the gun-

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

No.

Speaker 4:

… because I don’t know.

—> Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

“Yes. Now, I would agree with you, or with him, that I’m a little more like Newt Gingrich, where Newt Gingrich thinks that- that you have to look at families that have been here a long time, even though they’re illegal immigrants, in a little bit of a different way. You need to look at the whole picture. Like, did they come here, did they follow the rules, did they not get in trouble except for coming here illegally? I’m not talking about the last three years. That there are families here that have lived here for 25 years. Their children have been born here.”

Speaker 4:

Right.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Do you deport the parents and keep the children? What do you do? He believes it should be a case-by-case basis, and I sort of am with him, that way, because you want to be compassionate. But this- this flood of the last three years-

Speaker 2:

Bless you.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

... where they’re living on the streets, they’re defecating on the streets, they’re in tents, they’re- they’re taking up hotel rooms, those folks don’t have any ties here.

Speaker 4:

It seem to me, that’s a sneakily way to take-

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Yes.

Speaker 4:

… to start moving. In other words, it’s very simple to me how to start it. I can show ’em.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Yeah.

Speaker 4:

I can show ’em.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

You could ship ’em. (laughs)

Speaker 4:

Oh, yeah. I- I could show ’em. Tell them to hire me, I could show ’em. And I’ll do it for the first month for free.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Okay. (laughs) And I think that that’s- we have got to follow the rule of law. If we do not follow the rule of law, which means enforcing the border, we don’t have a country. Let’s go to the phones and talk to Anna in Dahlonega. Hey Anna, how you doing?

Anna in Dahlonega:

I’m doing fine. Um, Judge Napolitano interviewed, um, Douglas MacGregor yesterday, uh, Colonel MacGregor, he should really be General MacGregor, and he says, um, a point of view about this thing going on in the Middle East, that’s worth a listen. Um, and he seemed to be somebody that our great leaders have missed the mark on. They should have taken him to be the, uh, Secretary of Defense, um, Secretary of State. When you listen to him, uh, it’s incredible. It’s- it’s, uh, you can tell that he really knows what he’s talking about.

As far as the Border Agents are concerned, I think the days of the Border Agents have ceased. It’s time to get the military down there, and get real. As far as the, uh, Senate, and not so much the Senate [inaudible 00:07:14], but the Senate, because they’re getting what they want. The Senate and the House of Representatives, I think Mike Johnson is a good shot in the arm, like you said, if he- you know, if he follows through. But I really think he will. A lot of those dudes down there, I’m watching this, are there for face time. They’re playing. They’re- they want to be, um, they want to be famous-

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

They want to be famous. You- um, Anna, you are so right.

Anna in Dahlonega:

They just want to be famous, and I’m sick of it because they’re on CNN, Fox, um, not new Fox, but CNN, Fox, all the, you know, spaghetti- the spag- spaghetti letters of the net- of the commercial media has really screwed us to the wall, because they are perpetuating information that is not accurate and it is almost bi- borders illegal, the- what- the things they say to us, and unfortunately, it’s really revealing that our educational system has failed us so much. Because you can see it with the kids, the colleges, and they’re not asking any questions.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Anna in Dahlonega:

They’re- they’ve lost their way.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

They’re not learning-

Anna in Dahlonega:

And-

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

… to critically think.

Anna in Dahlonega:

No, they’re not. And they’re not in high school, it starts there. High school is like sixth grade, anymore. You have to go to at least two years, continue education, just to be able to be lucid. Just to be able to sound like you have a brain in your head. This is serious business, because one of the things that, um, Douglas MacGregor told Napolitano, because Napolitano was asking him, “What do you think is gonna happen in the interior of the United States?”

He said, “It’s coming, folks. It’s coming, and we have a very, very large group of people that are very angry with us, and that’s why they’re crossing the border.” Um, it- it’s just got to be fixed, right now. Uh, it can’t be fixed next year, or in the next presidency, if we have to get, uh, the President of the United States out of there, get him out of there, now. And get somebody in there, it- it’s gonna be one of those new things, where, “Oh, we never did this before.” Well, this is the time to do it, because I can’t think of a more critical time to replace this sitting President. That’s all I gotta say. Thanks, Martha.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

Thanks for your call today.

Speaker 4:

I- I- I liked a lot of things that you said, but I want you to think about one thing. I want you to think about one thing. If we move off emotional, as of right now, and we do the latter, how- that would put us in a better position, but it’ll put us in a tougher position. What do I mean by that? We need him to finish out his term, lucid. Understa- in a- in a clear manner, and then, make that, uh, big change or transition.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

So, a couple of things. Um, there’s a- there’s a-

Speaker 4:

But that’s gonna take prayer.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

It will. That’s- there’s a thing called the posse comitatus, which means you can’t have the military in a state unless they’re invited in. And, um, I think all the border states would invite the military in to help them on the border. There are many National Guards from states around the country that are helping now. So I think that’s a good point that you brought up-

Speaker 2:

Oh, I do, too.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

And as far as them wanting to be famous, you’re right. For- for-

Speaker 2:

Yeah. [inaudible 00:11:00].

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

We used to- we used to jokingly call politics show business for ugly people, because- because you know, that’s really why they want to do- they wanted their 15 minutes of fame. And now you’ve got social media that is- that is- that, you know-

Speaker 2:

And they get 24 hours of fame.

Martha Zoller Republican radio show host:

They get 24 hours of fame, that’s right. So, ca- a lot of good points there, appreciate your call today. We’ll take a break, and then we’ll take you up to the top of the hour. (end of topic).

Speaker 6:

Keeping you up to date with the latest news and weather, it’s what we do every day.

Speaker 7:

It’s the news I trust.

Speaker 6:

North Georgia’s NewsTalk, AM 550 and FM 102.9, WDUN. Always here, always local.

Speaker 8:

Looking for exciting new games with a progressive jackpot you can win on the spot? Well, the wait is over. Introducing Quick Win from the Georgia Lottery. The fastest way to win a progressive jackpot, and starts at $50,000 [inaudible 00:11:56]-

Transcript by Rev.com from Senate video.

Begin bill presentation in Senate Higher Education committee, March 16, 2023:

_

Sen. Kim Jackson (D- bill sponsor)

Uh, and we were working off of Senate bill 264, which is LC500510.

Senate Higher Ed committee Chairman, Sen. Billy Hickman

You’re totally good.

Sen Jackson:

All right, thank you. And I- I want to begin by thanking the chairman for allowing us to have this hearing. This is, um, such an important conversation for us to begin. And so, um, as you can see from the sign that was there, uh, many people who are very much interested and invested in this issue. Um, so very briefly, what this bill does is that it allows people who are resettled here in Georgia via a special immigration status, so what we’re talking about specifically are people who served, um, and helped our military in Afghanistan. Um, people who have been, um, clearly on our side when it’s come to those wars.

They’ve come here with special immigrant status and this bill would allow them to receive in-state tuition, uh, upon being resettled here. I think it’s important to note that none of those folks that have come here have come from another state. They don’t have another state where they could get in-state tuition, right? Oftentimes, this is what we’re thinking about. We’re like, “Oh, we don’t want somebody who lives in South Carolina, say, um, where they could get in-state South Carolina tuition, we don’t want them coming to Georgia and getting our in-state tuition.”

For people who come here who are resettled by our federal government, folks who have been our friends, who have gone through extreme amounts of trauma and yet still been dedicated to, uh, this country, people who are resettled here, this is their home state. This is in-state for them. And so, this bill would allow those who have a Humanitarian Parole status, a special immigrant status, to be able to continue their education and to do that in a way that’s affordable by receiving in-state tuition. If, with that, there are a lot of people who signed up. And so I- I’m happy to yield as much time, um, to them, if that would be helpful, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Hickman:

Can I ask a, ask a quick question?

Sen. Jackson

Oh, please.

Chairman Hickman:

Um, uh, s- I think, um, maybe Senator Payne and I had a conversation about Dalton, Georgia, and, you know, the Hispanic population, adult and- and- and so forth, and the parents of refugees, but children… I guess the children are also refugees in the school system out there. And [inaudible 00:02:27] when they graduate from the school system, they don’t qualify for in-state tuition. Is- is that a part of all this?

Sen Jackson:

So actually, that’s a separate bill, um, so, and- and one certainly that I hope many of us will support in the future. Um, so, ch- the children that you’re referring to, um, often have DACA status. So, um, they are children who- who came with parents of their own- no- no accord of their own, right? These children are… these young adults, these are, these are young adults or- or children, they’re coming here, um, with legal status from day one.

Um, they, on day one, uh, not only did they come here with legal status on day one, they were picked out, right, from Afghanistan, from the countries that they were, um, and recognized and acknowledged as having either assisted the US military a- as interpreters or, um, being people who are extreme in danger of being harmed because of their, um, support to the US military. So these folks arrived on day one with legal status in our state as a special immigrant, um, whereas the folks that you’re talking about don’t have legal status.

 

Chairman Hickman

Ok..[inaudible 00:03:35].

Sen. Jackson:

So this bill would be very clear, very specific, um, to folks with legal status to be here in the state, and this is their home.

Chairman Hickman:

Senator Payne?

Senator Chuck Payne:

Yes. Uh, this, would this apply to, um, my question is, ’cause I- I’m in the military, I- I remember we had a gentleman that was actually, uh, from Nicaragua, and he was serving in, next to us in the first 504th Second Airborne Division. And you know, was s- and I come to realize since then that we have a lot of noncitizens that are serving in our military. And so, would this… For those who are living here, this would allow them, if they were living in Georgia and states [inaudible 00:04:21] and for, that- that would bene- that would help those to access-

Sen. Jackson

I- I’m gonna bring my specialist here. I- I don’t think that’s accurate. I have a different bill, um, f- to allow those folks to become peace officers in our state. But, um, this is Darlene Lynch. She really is my expert who can answer that question definitively.

Senator Payne:

Okay, thank you.

Chairman Hickman,

So again, tell us who you are and-

Darlene Lynch – (Coalition of refugee Services (CRSA):

Sure.

Chairman Hickman:

… then who you represent.

Darlene Lynch:

I’m Darlene Lynch, and I’m a lawyer here in Georgia, and I represent the Business and Immigration for Georgia Partnership. It’s a partnership of, um, refugee and immigrant serving agencies in the business community, um, and so to answer your question, uh, as- as Senator Jackson said, it’s not possible to become eligible after you’re here. You have to be admitted to the United States as a special immigrant visa holder. So a- an interpreter from, um-

Senator Payne:

Oh…[inaudible 00:05:15].

Darlene Lynch:

… Nicaragua would not have that, w- would- would not have that ability. They’d have to be from Afghanistan or Iraq. However, if they were a Humanitarian Parolee, um, approved before coming to Georgia, yes. They- they’d be-

Senator Payne:

Okay. So this is specifically for those in Afghanistan and Iraq?

Darlene Lynch:

And for others who have Humanitarian Parolee, other special immigrant status.

Senator Payne:

Okay. Okay.

Darlene Lynch:

But it’s not something you can-

Senator Payne:

The reason I identified that, because this was [inaudible 00:05:42] Nicaragua was our [inaudible 00:05:44] (laughs).

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:05:46].

Senator Payne:

And that is always one of those questions that… He- he fled Nicaragua in a very t- tough time and- and joined the military to serve our country.

Darlene Lynch:

Mm-hmm.

Chairman Hickman:

Senator Moore.

Senator Colton Moore:

Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I’m just trying to understand what a special immigration status is.

Sen. Jackson:

Sure.

Senator Moore:

And, um, if I, if I read it off the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Homeland Security website, it says, “Special immigrant is a noncitizen who qualifies for a green card after meeting certain criteria. So, it doesn’t say anything about assisting the US or the state of Georgia, for that matter.

Sen Moore:

Do you want to [inaudible 00:06:27]?

Darlene Lynch:

So the… We’re… this bill addresses three categories of people: refugees, I think most folks are familiar with the US refugee program that dates back from the Vietnam War, and the Un- and Georgia’s program dates back four decades. Special immigrant visa holders are… There’s three programs that the US government have set up. The oldest program, they’re all referenced in the bill, would apply to interpreters from Iraq and from, um, Afghanistan who served as interpreters and translators for certain periods of time and applied for an SIV and then came here.

The more recent programs, there’s another one for Iraqis, and the most recent one for Afghans, who had supported or acted in a trusted role with the US government. They have to get approved by the- the head of mission, um, and then they apply for an SIV, uh, uh, permit. They wait many, many years, up to three years now, to get that. And then they come. So, all three of those SIV programs are for people who supported the US military or the US mission in those countries. And then the last program is for Humanitarian Parolees.

Sen Jackson:

And just to hopefully alleviate some of your concerns, we do spell out the exact code section in the federal law. If you look in lines, uh, 19, starting line 18 through 22. So we’re not, um, we’re not talking about just special immigrants, but we do specify the exact, um, types of special immigrants that, um, Ms. Lynch just a- Attorney Council Lynch just referred to.

Senator Moore:

Okay. Yeah, I’ll certainly have to go read those. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Hickman:

Okay. Senator Burns?

Senator Burns:

Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And- and, uh, thank you to the author and to those who support the legislation. I certainly support the concept. Uh, I think, um, it’s a, it’s worthy for us to acknowledge the service of those who’ve helped our country. A few quick questions. Are other states offering similar benefits? Could you, could you, uh, could you share that and kind of give me an idea of what other states might have chosen to do?

Sen Jackson:

Yes. So, uh, there are other states. Tennessee, um, specifically, uh, Council Lynch might be able to add some more. Um, so, some of this is about clarifying the law. If you, if you look there, um, there is a sentence, um, I’ll see if I can refer to the line, where the Board of Regents is given some opportunity to determine. So if you look at, um, I think line, uh, it started on line 12. 12 through 14, um, the Board of Regents has some leeway already written into the law, and so in other states like Tennessee, um, they’ve actually chosen to interpret, um, that those who come as Humanitarian Parolees, who come with these SIVs, that they’re, that they qualify.

They didn’t necessarily… They then interpreted that and decided to have that kind of generous read already. So I know that’s one example, if, uh, Councilor Lynch can offer more.

Darlene Lynch:

Right. And so, different states are doing it different ways, but right now, there are 10 states who passed similar legislations. And some of them include Colorado, V- Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Vermont, both Democrat, Republican states, and now there are five pending, including in Utah as the most recent one. Um, similar legislation to this bill.

Senator Burns:

And thank you. Uh, another followup, Mr.- Mr. Chairman? Uh, how many students do you feel would be a part of this qualifying group?

Sen Jackson:

Yeah, thank you so much for that question, and- and that’s something we’re trying to kind of get a han- handle on. And we’re not, we’re not 100% sure. But we believe it’ll be somewhere in the hundreds. So two, three-

Senator Burns:

You said we’re talking hundreds, not thousands, probably?

Sen Jackson:

We’re not talking, we’re not talking thousands at all. We’re talking somewhere in the hundreds.

Senator Burns:

All right. And then one more. I apologize, Mr. Chairman. But, uh, have you had these discussions with USG and TCSG?

Sen Jackson:

Absolutely. And those s-

Senator Burns:

And are- are they… I- I would… Their response, how do they feel about it?

Sen Jackson:

We- we’re continuing in those conversations.

Senator Burns:

[inaudible 00:10:26].

Sen jackson:

So those discussions have been ongoing. Um, this legislation, I think the fact that we’re having this conversation, this is a bipartisan piece of legislation that many of you, um, on the majority side have signed on. Um, I think will help us in that conversation.

Senator Burns:

Yeah, yeah, it w- it would impact their tuition, but, uh, I recognize that, uh, um, the- they just need to be a part of the conversation. That’s all I ask.

Sen Jackson:

And- and they are. They absolutely are. Would you like to answer that?

Darlene Lynch:

No, [inaudible 00:10:51].

Sen Jackson:

Okay.

Senator Burns:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Hickman:

Okay. Why- why don’t we bring the company speakers so that they would… Let them have about a minute and a half each.

Sen Jackson:

Excellent.

Chairman Hickman:

And so I’ll- I’ll let you choose.

Sen Jackson:

Um, do you have the list?

Chairman Hickman:

I do.

Sen Jackson:

Actually, I’ve got another list. Do you wanna pick?

Darlene Lynch:

Um, sure.

Sen Jackson:

Which, who’s gonna speak? I think if we have Yonas come first?

Darlene Lynch:

Yes. [inaudible 00:11:13].

Sen Jackson:

Yeah, did you want to testify? (laughs).

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:11:14].

Sen Jackson:

Well, we’ll begin with Darlene, and then we’ll have Yonas speak.

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:11:18].

Sen Jackson:

Where do you want them to testify from, Mr. Chairman?

Chairman Hickman:

Yeah?

Sen Jackson:

Where- where would you like… Do you want them to do it from here?

Chairman Hickman:

Oh, sure, right there. Yeah. Go ahead.

Sen Jackson:

Yeah? Yeah. Okay. I’ll switch with you (laughs).

Darlene Lynch:

Um, thank you all, and, uh, for the opportunity to share our support for this bill. Um, and thank you for the sponsors of this bill on this committee. Again, my name’s Darlene Lynch, chair of the Business and Immigration for Georgia Partnership. I want to, um, start by saying this bill arose out of months of work on the House side of a bipartisan study committee on how to maximize Georgia’s global talent. And what we recognized is that one in 10 Georgians is foreign born today. One-tenth of our population. Um, one-seventh of our workforce is foreign born. And yet we have so much talent that we have yet to tape.

And so the Global Talent Study Committee, um, looked at what are the barriers? How can remove the, we remove those barriers? And the number one recommendation was to address the barriers to admission to Georgia public colleges. That was the number one recommendation for really strengthening our workforce. Um, and every member of that committee, both Republicans and Democrats, sponsored the- the bill, the version of the, of the bill you have before you today in the House last year. And that was HB932.

So today, we continue the work, and we have a companion bipartisan bill in the House as well. And that bill is sponsored by Sen- uh, Representative Holcomb and Hitchens, both US veterans. Um, so there’s a lot of support for this bill, um, we’ve been doing a lot of education around this bill. And as I said, it’s part of a national effort to recognize the support that people from other countries have given to our country overseas. I just wanna, uh, clarify a little bit about Georgia’s history, uh, in this, uh, regard. Georgia has a-

Chairman Hickman:

30 seconds.

Darlene Lynch:

Okay. Proud history dating back four decades of welcoming refugees. Um, they’re vetted, screened, and approved by the US, and then resettled with the state of Georgia’s help. We have a state refugee program. And so we resettle a few thousand people every year, including many children and youth who had their education, um, disrupted. The bill makes a very small change, um, as we said, um, to ensure that they are treated as in-state students as soon as they are resettled here, because they have no other state, uh, to go. I’ll end by saying this bill addresses several challenges at once.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, ma’am. Thank you. That- that’s it. I’m sorry.

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:13:58]. Okay (laughs). Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Sorry. Um, we are short on time…[inaudible 00:14:05]…

Sen Jackson:

Yeah. Um, Yonas, if you could [inaudible 00:14:05].

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate that. Give us your name and what you do.

Yonas Abraha:

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Kim-

Chairman Hickman:

Mm-hmm.

Yonas Abraha – Coalition of Refugee Services (CRSA):

… and Senators, thank you. My name is Yonas Abraha. I am the co-chair for CRSA, which is the Coalition of Refugee, uh, Resettlement, uh, Service Agencies. So CRSA helps the refugee when they arrive here, and the coalition has about 23, uh, different organizations. And before that, if you allow me, I was just sitting here thinking if this would be an opportunity where I come from, I would not have been refugee. So thank you for that. Because most of us end up refugees, leaving our school, our family, everything behind, because of this opportunity democracy offers. So for that, thank you.

So, um, our organization, our coalition supports this bill. The reason we support this bill is as soon as, um, some of the a- agencies receive, they welcome the refugees when they arrive here at the Atlanta Airport. That’s the first airport that they come. Once they come to the airport, the first thing they ask is if they left their school, uh, “I wanna continue my education. I wanna continue my education,” because by doing that is the way for them to give back to the country that has given them opportunity.

And for us to tell them, “Hey, you c- you can’t, you can’t afford it because y- you are considered out of state,” it’s very difficult to explain that, because this is the only state that they have. And a lot of them, they have, s- especially like the Afghanis and now the U- the Ukrainians, they have left s- like, they have certification that they need in order to continue with their career. So for all that reasons, we say this is a fair bill. This is a necessary bill that we needed, because Georgia is one of the best state. I came as a refugee. I’m a [inaudible 00:16:04] refugee.

I came here, went to Cross Hill High School. I went to West Georgia. I went under my undergrad. I like it so much there, I got my master’s from West Georgia. I was even thinking about becoming a professional student, which was not possible, but I like [inaudible 00:16:18]. So, for that, most of Georgians, you know, they help us. For me, for those from my school, for my teachers, all those things I would not have gotten. So we, as the coalition, we are asking for this bill as soon as possible, if it’s possible. Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, sir. Thank you. Senator Jackson, one- one more person.

Sen Jackson:

[inaudible 00:16:38]. Just one?

Chairman Hickman:

Yeah. We- we’re running out of time.

Sen Jackson:

[inaudible 00:16:45].

Chairman Hickman:

It’s a great- great presentation. We appreciate them.

Sen Jackson:

[inaudible 00:16:48] fixed here.

Chairman Hickman:

You need to listen up then.

Hassene Alacuzi:

So, thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, ma’am.

Hassene Alacuzi:

It’s honor to be here and talk about the positive [inaudible 00:17:03]-

Chairman Hickman:

You need to a little louder [inaudible 00:17:03].

Hassene Alacuzi:

… on this bill. I’m Hassene Alacuzi one of the new [inaudible 00:17:08] Afghan refugee in Georgia. I’ve been here for one year and my family relocated here after the Taliban take over the country. Most of my family members are here and we are all excited and motivated to track our career back here. And also we are excited that what the youth provide for us, especially for me as a woman from Afghanistan. Before the Taliban seized in Afghanistan, the number of children out of the school were 3.7. When the Taliban seized in Afghanistan, the Taliban banned women from education.

So the number moved to 6.2 million peoples or children. Today, Afghanistan is the only country that forbidden half of its population from education, which are girls and women. So, the new [inaudible 00:17:59] Afghan and the USA are the only hope of my country. I’m optimistic that one day they leave the country, they break the chain of human right violation, and this inequality of mine, in my country. However, beginning a new life in USA is not easy. We face many challenges.

Since coming to USA or to Georgia, I have been looking for opportunities to obtain my master’s degree in public health in Georgia, and also to support my family financially at the same time. But I couldn’t make this in Georgia. So I didn’t give up. And I lo- I have been, I began looking for opportunities in other state. Uh, happily I made it, and now I’m awarded the prestigious, uh, scholarship of Peter Salama with the School of Johns Hopkins, uh, School of Public Health. And, uh, so, I’m leaving Georgia, but I’m optimistic one day I can be productive to the economy of this country.

Chairman Hickman:

[inaudible 00:19:05].

Hassene Alacuzi:

My second homeland [inaudible 00:19:07].

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you, ma’am. Great. Thank you. Thank you so very much for being here. Um, [inaudible 00:19:12]-

Senator Burns:

Just a, just a quick- quick question, please. First, uh, thank you, thank you for coming and thank you for sharing. Um, where did you, uh, what is your undergraduate work in?

Hassene Alacuzi:

So I did my under-… Ah, yes. I did my undergrad in [inaudible 00:19:23] B- Bachelor of Public Health.

Senator Burns:

Very good.

Hassene Alacuzi:

And then I start working with Minister of Public Health of Afghanistan and then I continue my career with UNICEF or United National Children Emergency Fund as a nutrition officer. And I work with the, uh, Nutrition Emergency and Development program for around five years.

Senator Burns:

Thank you. And- and- and currently, are you employed? Do you have the opportunity to work?

Hassene Alacuzi:

Yes. I’m working as an interpreter with the Department of Public Health of Georgia.

Senator Burns:

Mm-hmm.

Hassene Alacuzi:

With the d-… Yes, thank you so much.

Senator Burns:

Thank you.

Hassene Alacuzi:

Yeah. With the DeKalb County Board of Health Refugee Program.

Senator Burns:

Thank you very much. I appreciate you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Senator Burns:

Thanks for being here.

Hassene Alacuzi:

Thank you. Thank you for the [inaudible 00:20:03].

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you, Senator Burns, for the question. Let’s do one more.

Sen Jackson:

May I have one moment?

Chairman Hickman:

One more please.

Sen Jackson:

Uh, one more speaker or may I close?

Chairman Hickman:

One more, no, one more speaker.

Sen Jackson:

Yeah, oh, well, great. Um-

Chairman Hickman:

I wish we had more time. This is very interesting. But we don’t.

Sen Jackson:

No, that’s- that’s okay. Um, [inaudible 00:20:18].

Speaker 9 (*?):

[inaudible 00:20:18].

Sen Jackson:

David? Um, if David Garcia from GALEO?

Chairman Jackson:

Tell us your name and tell us your, where you come from and tell us what you’re doing now.

David Garcia:

Uh, uh, sure. Thank you for having me. I’m David Garcia. I work for an organization named GALEO Impact Fund. And we advocate for the Latino/Hispanic community throughout Georgia. I’m also a first generation US citizen, uh, Georgia resident, college graduate, and military veteran. Um, I graduated from Marietta High School and joined the Marine Corps shortly after. I served as a US embassy guard in Peru, China, and Serbia, and I also worked as a contractor for the US Department of State in Mexico, Bosnia, and Iraq.

And throughout my time in service, I had the privilege of working closely alongside many host country nationals who- who were vital to- to advancing US entrance worldwide. Uh, during my time in Iraq, I routinely worked with many young Iraqis who had committed most of their lives to supporting our efforts there, and their support, warmth, and commitment to our mission was vital to- to our success. And the same can be said for the thousands of Afghan citizens who’ve supported our efforts out there as well. Um, I currently live in Decatur, Georgia, which is very close to Clarkston, where I volunteer with many refugee serving agencies, including Clarkston Community Center, Refugee Coffee, Friends of, Friends of Refugees, and Clarkston United Methodist Church.

I’ve met many refugees and special immigrant visa holders in Clarkston who served alongside US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. And according to the US t- according to the Atlanta History Center, uh, more than 1,500 Afghans have resettled in Georgia over the past two years. Uh, to me this bill is about supporting a group of- of people undergoing major life transitions and- and I can relate to many of the challenges that they face. Um, adjusting, uh, to life after living abroad was very difficult. Um, my first year back in the US after- after serving abroad was- was very challenging, and- and having structure is key in- in transitioning successfully.

Higher education and the opportunities that come with being a student on a college campus can- can help immensely in easing one’s transition, and I think that making higher education more accessible for a group of people who have supported our country and our foreign policies is the least that we can do. And I ask for your support in this bill.

Chairman Hickman:

Timing was just right. Thank you.

David Garcia:

Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you for your service, sir. Appreciate it.

David Garcia:

Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, sir. Um, we have, um, oh. Senator Hufstetler?

Senator Hufstetler:

Uh, I can do this later, but I guess I wanna make one point. Obviously it’s finance, y’all working incentives and trying to get people, trying to make the state better. The biggest problem we have in the state right now is workers. The limiting factor on our economy in Georgia is workers. And, um, these people are here legally. So I’ll stop there.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you. Senator Oorock?

Sen Oorock:

Thank you. Uh, uh, I certainly was gonna lo- start with, um, Mr. Chairman, with the- the- the point of our workforce shortage. But number two, we’ve heard from the chancellor of our great university system about the decline in enrollment, and- and the need he states urgently in our budget hearing. So the need to step up, uh, uh, enrollment figures in our university system. And so we certainly have the slots there, uh, uh, and I think the case has been strongly made, uh, [inaudible 00:23:40] for, uh, moving ahead with this initiative. And let’s catch up with Tennessee.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you. Uh, I think… I think Senator Williams has a statement.

Speaker 13:

No, I’m just [inaudible 00:23:57].

Chairman Hickman:

Y- you had a previous, uh, what? What number are you? Uh, what number is it?

Speaker 13:

[inaudible 00:24:02].

Chairman Hickman:

S- Senator Jackson. Thank you so much. I wish I- I could listen to this for a long time. I appreciate- appreciate your passion and I know the committee appreciates your passion on this. And thank y’all for being here. You know, we, um, let- let- let’s- let’s move it forward. And not next week, but next session, okay?

Sen Jackson:

May I make one closing statement?

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, ma’am.

Sen Jackson:

Uh, so I do wanna thank you so much for having this hearing. I wanna acknowledge that there’s a family that’s come, um, here that’s from Ukraine, um, they came to witness our democracy-

Chairman Hickman:

Oh, wow, cool.

Sen Jackson:

… to be a part of this conversation. Uh, and so, um, I- I understand we’re on a time limit. But I- I wanted to at least acknowledge their presence and, um, and I do hope that we can continue this conversation.

Chairman Hickman:

We will.

Sen Jackson:

Thank you so much.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you. Thank y’all very much…….

End of bill intro

Updated, April 10, 2023. The below story is directly related to this: “US refugee orgs met with racism, sexism, verbal abuse from some (SIV) Afghan evacuees: IG report” – here.

SB 264 (and HB 640) would allow foreign nationals who are Refugees, “Special Visa Immigrants” and recipients of “Humanitarian Parole” (see also Biden’s parole scam) to move to Georgia and immediately access instate tuition rates. Americans migrating to our state would still be required to be residents for a year before they are allowed to pay instate tuition in our public colleges. The same bill died last year as HB 932. We had hoped the House would let us see who would vote for it.

Please read Inger’s terrific column from that adventure here.

• Related: Federal court rules the Biden parole scam was illegal. And Biden won’t appeal.

We may want SB 264 to go to the Republican-controlled Senate floor next year – in order to see who votes “yes” in an election year. It should be noted that the Republican co-sponsors of the Democrat bill don’t seem to understand it. They do seem to know the Georgia Chamber of Commerce wants it passed.

Related: For academic year 2020-2021, the average tuition & fees for Colleges in Georgia was $4,739.00 for in-state and $17,008.00 for out-of-state. Americans who relocate here would pay the higher amount in their first year of residence.

The foreigners there catagories listed above would pay the lower amount. That is a difference of $12,260.90. 

Here are the sponsors of SB 264:

1. Jackson, Kim  (D)	41st
2.	Dugan, Mike (R)	30th
3.	Butler, Gloria (D)	55th
4.	Payne, Chuck (R)	54th
5.	Hickman, Billy (R)	4th
6.	Halpern, Sonya (D)	39th

 

The below transcript from the March 16, Senate Higher Education committee hearing on SB 264 which was dropped  heard for the fist time in committee after Crossover Day, 2023. There is a companion bill, HB 640.

Video here. See March 16, 2023

Transcript by Rev.com

• My cost $50.00 and about 3 hours.
• Note: The Coalition of Refugee Services (CRSA) sent out an action alert on March 20, 2023 telling their supporters to contact the senate and ask this bill be passed. You can sign up for alerts from the CRSA here.

 

Begin bill presentation in Senate Higher Education committee:

Sen. Kim Jackson (D- bill sponsor)

Uh, and we were working off of Senate bill 264, which is LC500510.

Senate Higher Ed committee Chairman, Sen. Billy Hickman

You’re totally good.

Sen Jackson:

All right, thank you. And I- I want to begin by thanking the chairman for allowing us to have this hearing. This is, um, such an important conversation for us to begin. And so, um, as you can see from the sign that was there, uh, many people who are very much interested and invested in this issue. Um, so very briefly, what this bill does is that it allows people who are resettled here in Georgia via a special immigration status, so what we’re talking about specifically are people who served, um, and helped our military in Afghanistan. Um, people who have been, um, clearly on our side when it’s come to those wars.

They’ve come here with special immigrant status and this bill would allow them to receive in-state tuition, uh, upon being resettled here. I think it’s important to note that none of those folks that have come here have come from another state. They don’t have another state where they could get in-state tuition, right? Oftentimes, this is what we’re thinking about. We’re like, “Oh, we don’t want somebody who lives in South Carolina, say, um, where they could get in-state South Carolina tuition, we don’t want them coming to Georgia and getting our in-state tuition.”

For people who come here who are resettled by our federal government, folks who have been our friends, who have gone through extreme amounts of trauma and yet still been dedicated to, uh, this country, people who are resettled here, this is their home state. This is in-state for them. And so, this bill would allow those who have a Humanitarian Parole status, a special immigrant status, to be able to continue their education and to do that in a way that’s affordable by receiving in-state tuition. If, with that, there are a lot of people who signed up. And so I- I’m happy to yield as much time, um, to them, if that would be helpful, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Hickman:

Can I ask a, ask a quick question?

Sen. Jackson

Oh, please.

Chairman Hickman:

Um, uh, s- I think, um, maybe Senator Payne and I had a conversation about Dalton, Georgia, and, you know, the Hispanic population, adult and- and- and so forth, and the parents of refugees, but children… I guess the children are also refugees in the school system out there. And [inaudible 00:02:27] when they graduate from the school system, they don’t qualify for in-state tuition. Is- is that a part of all this?

Sen Jackson:

So actually, that’s a separate bill, um, so, and- and one certainly that I hope many of us will support in the future. Um, so, ch- the children that you’re referring to, um, often have DACA status. So, um, they are children who- who came with parents of their own- no- no accord of their own, right? These children are… these young adults, these are, these are young adults or- or children, they’re coming here, um, with legal status from day one.

Um, they, on day one, uh, not only did they come here with legal status on day one, they were picked out, right, from Afghanistan, from the countries that they were, um, and recognized and acknowledged as having either assisted the US military a- as interpreters or, um, being people who are extreme in danger of being harmed because of their, um, support to the US military. So these folks arrived on day one with legal status in our state as a special immigrant, um, whereas the folks that you’re talking about don’t have legal status.

 

Chairman Hickman

Ok..[inaudible 00:03:35].

Sen. Jackson:

So this bill would be very clear, very specific, um, to folks with legal status to be here in the state, and this is their home.

Chairman Hickman:

Senator Payne?

Senator Chuck Payne:

Yes. Uh, this, would this apply to, um, my question is, ’cause I- I’m in the military, I- I remember we had a gentleman that was actually, uh, from Nicaragua, and he was serving in, next to us in the first 504th Second Airborne Division. And you know, was s- and I come to realize since then that we have a lot of noncitizens that are serving in our military. And so, would this… For those who are living here, this would allow them, if they were living in Georgia and states [inaudible 00:04:21] and for, that- that would bene- that would help those to access-

Sen. Jackson

I- I’m gonna bring my specialist here. I- I don’t think that’s accurate. I have a different bill, um, f- to allow those folks to become peace officers in our state. But, um, this is Darlene Lynch. She really is my expert who can answer that question definitively.

Senator Payne:

Okay, thank you.

Chairman Hickman,

So again, tell us who you are and-

Darlene Lynch – (Coalition of refugee Services (CRSA):

Sure.

Chairman Hickman:

… then who you represent.

Darlene Lynch:

I’m Darlene Lynch, and I’m a lawyer here in Georgia, and I represent the Business and Immigration for Georgia Partnership. It’s a partnership of, um, refugee and immigrant serving agencies in the business community, um, and so to answer your question, uh, as- as Senator Jackson said, it’s not possible to become eligible after you’re here. You have to be admitted to the United States as a special immigrant visa holder. So a- an interpreter from, um-

Senator Payne:

Oh…[inaudible 00:05:15].

Darlene Lynch:

… Nicaragua would not have that, w- would- would not have that ability. They’d have to be from Afghanistan or Iraq. However, if they were a Humanitarian Parolee, um, approved before coming to Georgia, yes. They- they’d be-

Senator Payne:

Okay. So this is specifically for those in Afghanistan and Iraq?

Darlene Lynch:

And for others who have Humanitarian Parolee, other special immigrant status.

Senator Payne:

Okay. Okay.

Darlene Lynch:

But it’s not something you can-

Senator Payne:

The reason I identified that, because this was [inaudible 00:05:42] Nicaragua was our [inaudible 00:05:44] (laughs).

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:05:46].

Senator Payne:

And that is always one of those questions that… He- he fled Nicaragua in a very t- tough time and- and joined the military to serve our country.

Darlene Lynch:

Mm-hmm.

Chairman Hickman:

Senator Moore.

Senator Colton Moore:

Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I’m just trying to understand what a special immigration status is.

Sen. Jackson:

Sure.

Senator Moore:

And, um, if I, if I read it off the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Homeland Security website, it says, “Special immigrant is a noncitizen who qualifies for a green card after meeting certain criteria. So, it doesn’t say anything about assisting the US or the state of Georgia, for that matter.

Sen Moore:

Do you want to [inaudible 00:06:27]?

Darlene Lynch:

So the… We’re… this bill addresses three categories of people: refugees, I think most folks are familiar with the US refugee program that dates back from the Vietnam War, and the Un- and Georgia’s program dates back four decades. Special immigrant visa holders are… There’s three programs that the US government have set up. The oldest program, they’re all referenced in the bill, would apply to interpreters from Iraq and from, um, Afghanistan who served as interpreters and translators for certain periods of time and applied for an SIV and then came here.

The more recent programs, there’s another one for Iraqis, and the most recent one for Afghans, who had supported or acted in a trusted role with the US government. They have to get approved by the- the head of mission, um, and then they apply for an SIV, uh, uh, permit. They wait many, many years, up to three years now, to get that. And then they come. So, all three of those SIV programs are for people who supported the US military or the US mission in those countries. And then the last program is for Humanitarian Parolees.

Sen Jackson:

And just to hopefully alleviate some of your concerns, we do spell out the exact code section in the federal law. If you look in lines, uh, 19, starting line 18 through 22. So we’re not, um, we’re not talking about just special immigrants, but we do specify the exact, um, types of special immigrants that, um, Ms. Lynch just a- Attorney Council Lynch just referred to.

Senator Moore:

Okay. Yeah, I’ll certainly have to go read those. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Hickman:

Okay. Senator Burns?

Senator Burns:

Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And- and, uh, thank you to the author and to those who support the legislation. I certainly support the concept. Uh, I think, um, it’s a, it’s worthy for us to acknowledge the service of those who’ve helped our country. A few quick questions. Are other states offering similar benefits? Could you, could you, uh, could you share that and kind of give me an idea of what other states might have chosen to do?

Sen Jackson:

Yes. So, uh, there are other states. Tennessee, um, specifically, uh, Council Lynch might be able to add some more. Um, so, some of this is about clarifying the law. If you, if you look there, um, there is a sentence, um, I’ll see if I can refer to the line, where the Board of Regents is given some opportunity to determine. So if you look at, um, I think line, uh, it started on line 12. 12 through 14, um, the Board of Regents has some leeway already written into the law, and so in other states like Tennessee, um, they’ve actually chosen to interpret, um, that those who come as Humanitarian Parolees, who come with these SIVs, that they’re, that they qualify.

They didn’t necessarily… They then interpreted that and decided to have that kind of generous read already. So I know that’s one example, if, uh, Councilor Lynch can offer more.

Darlene Lynch:

Right. And so, different states are doing it different ways, but right now, there are 10 states who passed similar legislations. And some of them include Colorado, V- Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Vermont, both Democrat, Republican states, and now there are five pending, including in Utah as the most recent one. Um, similar legislation to this bill.

Senator Burns:

And thank you. Uh, another followup, Mr.- Mr. Chairman? Uh, how many students do you feel would be a part of this qualifying group?

Sen Jackson:

Yeah, thank you so much for that question, and- and that’s something we’re trying to kind of get a han- handle on. And we’re not, we’re not 100% sure. But we believe it’ll be somewhere in the hundreds. So two, three-

Senator Burns:

You said we’re talking hundreds, not thousands, probably?

Sen Jackson:

We’re not talking, we’re not talking thousands at all. We’re talking somewhere in the hundreds.

Senator Burns:

All right. And then one more. I apologize, Mr. Chairman. But, uh, have you had these discussions with USG and TCSG?

Sen Jackson:

Absolutely. And those s-

Senator Burns:

And are- are they… I- I would… Their response, how do they feel about it?

Sen Jackson:

We- we’re continuing in those conversations.

Senator Burns:

[inaudible 00:10:26].

Sen jackson:

So those discussions have been ongoing. Um, this legislation, I think the fact that we’re having this conversation, this is a bipartisan piece of legislation that many of you, um, on the majority side have signed on. Um, I think will help us in that conversation.

Senator Burns:

Yeah, yeah, it w- it would impact their tuition, but, uh, I recognize that, uh, um, the- they just need to be a part of the conversation. That’s all I ask.

Sen Jackson:

And- and they are. They absolutely are. Would you like to answer that?

Darlene Lynch:

No, [inaudible 00:10:51].

Sen Jackson:

Okay.

Senator Burns:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Hickman:

Okay. Why- why don’t we bring the company speakers so that they would… Let them have about a minute and a half each.

Sen Jackson:

Excellent.

Chairman Hickman:

And so I’ll- I’ll let you choose.

Sen Jackson:

Um, do you have the list?

Chairman Hickman:

I do.

Sen Jackson:

Actually, I’ve got another list. Do you wanna pick?

Darlene Lynch:

Um, sure.

Sen Jackson:

Which, who’s gonna speak? I think if we have Yonas come first?

Darlene Lynch:

Yes. [inaudible 00:11:13].

Sen Jackson:

Yeah, did you want to testify? (laughs).

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:11:14].

Sen Jackson:

Well, we’ll begin with Darlene, and then we’ll have Yonas speak.

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:11:18].

Sen Jackson:

Where do you want them to testify from, Mr. Chairman?

Chairman Hickman:

Yeah?

Sen Jackson:

Where- where would you like… Do you want them to do it from here?

Chairman Hickman:

Oh, sure, right there. Yeah. Go ahead.

Sen Jackson:

Yeah? Yeah. Okay. I’ll switch with you (laughs).

Darlene Lynch:

Um, thank you all, and, uh, for the opportunity to share our support for this bill. Um, and thank you for the sponsors of this bill on this committee. Again, my name’s Darlene Lynch, chair of the Business and Immigration for Georgia Partnership. I want to, um, start by saying this bill arose out of months of work on the House side of a bipartisan study committee on how to maximize Georgia’s global talent. And what we recognized is that one in 10 Georgians is foreign born today. One-tenth of our population. Um, one-seventh of our workforce is foreign born. And yet we have so much talent that we have yet to tape.

And so the Global Talent Study Committee, um, looked at what are the barriers? How can remove the, we remove those barriers? And the number one recommendation was to address the barriers to admission to Georgia public colleges. That was the number one recommendation for really strengthening our workforce. Um, and every member of that committee, both Republicans and Democrats, sponsored the- the bill, the version of the, of the bill you have before you today in the House last year. And that was HB932.

So today, we continue the work, and we have a companion bipartisan bill in the House as well. And that bill is sponsored by Sen- uh, Representative Holcomb and Hitchens, both US veterans. Um, so there’s a lot of support for this bill, um, we’ve been doing a lot of education around this bill. And as I said, it’s part of a national effort to recognize the support that people from other countries have given to our country overseas. I just wanna, uh, clarify a little bit about Georgia’s history, uh, in this, uh, regard. Georgia has a-

Chairman Hickman:

30 seconds.

Darlene Lynch:

Okay. Proud history dating back four decades of welcoming refugees. Um, they’re vetted, screened, and approved by the US, and then resettled with the state of Georgia’s help. We have a state refugee program. And so we resettle a few thousand people every year, including many children and youth who had their education, um, disrupted. The bill makes a very small change, um, as we said, um, to ensure that they are treated as in-state students as soon as they are resettled here, because they have no other state, uh, to go. I’ll end by saying this bill addresses several challenges at once.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, ma’am. Thank you. That- that’s it. I’m sorry.

Darlene Lynch:

[inaudible 00:13:58]. Okay (laughs). Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Sorry. Um, we are short on time…[inaudible 00:14:05]…

Sen Jackson:

Yeah. Um, Yonas, if you could [inaudible 00:14:05].

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate that. Give us your name and what you do.

Yonas Abraha:

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Kim-

Chairman Hickman:

Mm-hmm.

Yonas Abraha – Coalition of Refugee Services (CRSA):

… and Senators, thank you. My name is Yonas Abraha. I am the co-chair for CRSA, which is the Coalition of Refugee, uh, Resettlement, uh, Service Agencies. So CRSA helps the refugee when they arrive here, and the coalition has about 23, uh, different organizations. And before that, if you allow me, I was just sitting here thinking if this would be an opportunity where I come from, I would not have been refugee. So thank you for that. Because most of us end up refugees, leaving our school, our family, everything behind, because of this opportunity democracy offers. So for that, thank you.

So, um, our organization, our coalition supports this bill. The reason we support this bill is as soon as, um, some of the a- agencies receive, they welcome the refugees when they arrive here at the Atlanta Airport. That’s the first airport that they come. Once they come to the airport, the first thing they ask is if they left their school, uh, “I wanna continue my education. I wanna continue my education,” because by doing that is the way for them to give back to the country that has given them opportunity.

And for us to tell them, “Hey, you c- you can’t, you can’t afford it because y- you are considered out of state,” it’s very difficult to explain that, because this is the only state that they have. And a lot of them, they have, s- especially like the Afghanis and now the U- the Ukrainians, they have left s- like, they have certification that they need in order to continue with their career. So for all that reasons, we say this is a fair bill. This is a necessary bill that we needed, because Georgia is one of the best state. I came as a refugee. I’m a [inaudible 00:16:04] refugee.

I came here, went to Cross Hill High School. I went to West Georgia. I went under my undergrad. I like it so much there, I got my master’s from West Georgia. I was even thinking about becoming a professional student, which was not possible, but I like [inaudible 00:16:18]. So, for that, most of Georgians, you know, they help us. For me, for those from my school, for my teachers, all those things I would not have gotten. So we, as the coalition, we are asking for this bill as soon as possible, if it’s possible. Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, sir. Thank you. Senator Jackson, one- one more person.

Sen Jackson:

[inaudible 00:16:38]. Just one?

Chairman Hickman:

Yeah. We- we’re running out of time.

Sen Jackson:

[inaudible 00:16:45].

Chairman Hickman:

It’s a great- great presentation. We appreciate them.

Sen Jackson:

[inaudible 00:16:48] fixed here.

Chairman Hickman:

You need to listen up then.

Hassene Alacuzi:

So, thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, ma’am.

Hassene Alacuzi:

It’s honor to be here and talk about the positive [inaudible 00:17:03]-

Chairman Hickman:

You need to a little louder [inaudible 00:17:03].

Hassene Alacuzi:

… on this bill. I’m Hassene Alacuzi one of the new [inaudible 00:17:08] Afghan refugee in Georgia. I’ve been here for one year and my family relocated here after the Taliban take over the country. Most of my family members are here and we are all excited and motivated to track our career back here. And also we are excited that what the youth provide for us, especially for me as a woman from Afghanistan. Before the Taliban seized in Afghanistan, the number of children out of the school were 3.7. When the Taliban seized in Afghanistan, the Taliban banned women from education.

So the number moved to 6.2 million peoples or children. Today, Afghanistan is the only country that forbidden half of its population from education, which are girls and women. So, the new [inaudible 00:17:59] Afghan and the USA are the only hope of my country. I’m optimistic that one day they leave the country, they break the chain of human right violation, and this inequality of mine, in my country. However, beginning a new life in USA is not easy. We face many challenges.

Since coming to USA or to Georgia, I have been looking for opportunities to obtain my master’s degree in public health in Georgia, and also to support my family financially at the same time. But I couldn’t make this in Georgia. So I didn’t give up. And I lo- I have been, I began looking for opportunities in other state. Uh, happily I made it, and now I’m awarded the prestigious, uh, scholarship of Peter Salama with the School of Johns Hopkins, uh, School of Public Health. And, uh, so, I’m leaving Georgia, but I’m optimistic one day I can be productive to the economy of this country.

Chairman Hickman:

[inaudible 00:19:05].

Hassene Alacuzi:

My second homeland [inaudible 00:19:07].

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you, ma’am. Great. Thank you. Thank you so very much for being here. Um, [inaudible 00:19:12]-

Senator Burns:

Just a, just a quick- quick question, please. First, uh, thank you, thank you for coming and thank you for sharing. Um, where did you, uh, what is your undergraduate work in?

Hassene Alacuzi:

So I did my under-… Ah, yes. I did my undergrad in [inaudible 00:19:23] B- Bachelor of Public Health.

Senator Burns:

Very good.

Hassene Alacuzi:

And then I start working with Minister of Public Health of Afghanistan and then I continue my career with UNICEF or United National Children Emergency Fund as a nutrition officer. And I work with the, uh, Nutrition Emergency and Development program for around five years.

Senator Burns:

Thank you. And- and- and currently, are you employed? Do you have the opportunity to work?

Hassene Alacuzi:

Yes. I’m working as an interpreter with the Department of Public Health of Georgia.

Senator Burns:

Mm-hmm.

Hassene Alacuzi:

With the d-… Yes, thank you so much.

Senator Burns:

Thank you.

Hassene Alacuzi:

Yeah. With the DeKalb County Board of Health Refugee Program.

Senator Burns:

Thank you very much. I appreciate you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Senator Burns:

Thanks for being here.

Hassene Alacuzi:

Thank you. Thank you for the [inaudible 00:20:03].

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you, Senator Burns, for the question. Let’s do one more.

Sen Jackson:

May I have one moment?

Chairman Hickman:

One more please.

Sen Jackson:

Uh, one more speaker or may I close?

Chairman Hickman:

One more, no, one more speaker.

Sen Jackson:

Yeah, oh, well, great. Um-

Chairman Hickman:

I wish we had more time. This is very interesting. But we don’t.

Sen Jackson:

No, that’s- that’s okay. Um, [inaudible 00:20:18].

Speaker 9 (*?):

[inaudible 00:20:18].

Sen Jackson:

David? Um, if David Garcia from GALEO?

Chairman Jackson:

Tell us your name and tell us your, where you come from and tell us what you’re doing now.

David Garcia:

Uh, uh, sure. Thank you for having me. I’m David Garcia. I work for an organization named GALEO Impact Fund. And we advocate for the Latino/Hispanic community throughout Georgia. I’m also a first generation US citizen, uh, Georgia resident, college graduate, and military veteran. Um, I graduated from Marietta High School and joined the Marine Corps shortly after. I served as a US embassy guard in Peru, China, and Serbia, and I also worked as a contractor for the US Department of State in Mexico, Bosnia, and Iraq.

And throughout my time in service, I had the privilege of working closely alongside many host country nationals who- who were vital to- to advancing US entrance worldwide. Uh, during my time in Iraq, I routinely worked with many young Iraqis who had committed most of their lives to supporting our efforts there, and their support, warmth, and commitment to our mission was vital to- to our success. And the same can be said for the thousands of Afghan citizens who’ve supported our efforts out there as well. Um, I currently live in Decatur, Georgia, which is very close to Clarkston, where I volunteer with many refugee serving agencies, including Clarkston Community Center, Refugee Coffee, Friends of, Friends of Refugees, and Clarkston United Methodist Church.

I’ve met many refugees and special immigrant visa holders in Clarkston who served alongside US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. And according to the US t- according to the Atlanta History Center, uh, more than 1,500 Afghans have resettled in Georgia over the past two years. Uh, to me this bill is about supporting a group of- of people undergoing major life transitions and- and I can relate to many of the challenges that they face. Um, adjusting, uh, to life after living abroad was very difficult. Um, my first year back in the US after- after serving abroad was- was very challenging, and- and having structure is key in- in transitioning successfully.

Higher education and the opportunities that come with being a student on a college campus can- can help immensely in easing one’s transition, and I think that making higher education more accessible for a group of people who have supported our country and our foreign policies is the least that we can do. And I ask for your support in this bill.

Chairman Hickman:

Timing was just right. Thank you.

David Garcia:

Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you for your service, sir. Appreciate it.

David Garcia:

Thank you.

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, sir. Um, we have, um, oh. Senator Hufstetler?

Senator Hufstetler:

Uh, I can do this later, but I guess I wanna make one point. Obviously it’s finance, y’all working incentives and trying to get people, trying to make the state better. The biggest problem we have in the state right now is workers. The limiting factor on our economy in Georgia is workers. And, um, these people are here legally. So I’ll stop there.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you. Senator Oorock?

Sen Oorock:

Thank you. Uh, uh, I certainly was gonna lo- start with, um, Mr. Chairman, with the- the- the point of our workforce shortage. But number two, we’ve heard from the chancellor of our great university system about the decline in enrollment, and- and the need he states urgently in our budget hearing. So the need to step up, uh, uh, enrollment figures in our university system. And so we certainly have the slots there, uh, uh, and I think the case has been strongly made, uh, [inaudible 00:23:40] for, uh, moving ahead with this initiative. And let’s catch up with Tennessee.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you. Uh, I think… I think Senator Williams has a statement.

Speaker 13:

No, I’m just [inaudible 00:23:57].

Chairman Hickman:

Y- you had a previous, uh, what? What number are you? Uh, what number is it?

Speaker 13:

[inaudible 00:24:02].

Chairman Hickman:

S- Senator Jackson. Thank you so much. I wish I- I could listen to this for a long time. I appreciate- appreciate your passion and I know the committee appreciates your passion on this. And thank y’all for being here. You know, we, um, let- let- let’s- let’s move it forward. And not next week, but next session, okay?

Sen Jackson:

May I make one closing statement?

Chairman Hickman:

Yes, ma’am.

Sen Jackson:

Uh, so I do wanna thank you so much for having this hearing. I wanna acknowledge that there’s a family that’s come, um, here that’s from Ukraine, um, they came to witness our democracy-

Chairman Hickman:

Oh, wow, cool.

Sen Jackson:

… to be a part of this conversation. Uh, and so, um, I- I understand we’re on a time limit. But I- I wanted to at least acknowledge their presence and, um, and I do hope that we can continue this conversation.

Chairman Hickman:

We will.

Sen Jackson:

Thank you so much.

Chairman Hickman:

Thank you. Thank y’all very much…….

End of bill intro

 

2 February 2023

Mr. John H. Cranford

District Attorney

Coweta Judicial District

Request to forward my complaint to the GBI and Attorney General

Mr. Cranford,

As you know, private citizens are unable to initiate an investigation into violation of state law by the GBI or the Attorney General’s office. According to the GBI “in most cases requests for assistance from the GBI must come from a criminal justice official such as the Sheriff, Chief of Police, District Attorney or Superior Court Judge.’ I am informed that policy applies to the Attorney General’s office as well.

This letter is my request that you use the power and authority of your office to forward my below complaint and media-distributed evidence to the above offices. Thank you for your assistance in my 2022 complaint against the Carroll County Board of Commissioners for the violations to which members of that body and county attorneys admitted.

Complaint:

I allege that Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor is in defiant violation of OCGA 42-4-14 and OCGA 36-80-23 and has been since taking office on January 1, 2021. On that date Sheriff Taylor announced to the media that his office would not share information on immigration status of prisoners in his jail or other facilities with ICE. According to an Associated Press report Sheriff Taylor’s exact quote was “What we will not be doing is notifying ICE of anybody’s immigration status in the jail or any of our facilities…”

I assert that public statement represents a statement of official policy from Tylor and is an admission to violation of state law. It seems reasonable that it is also sufficient cause for a full investigation in the interest of public safety.

It is apparently true that Taylor went on to qualify his remarks by saying that did not mean he would not cooperate with ICE…”.  But that qualification does not change the fact that Taylor’s stated policy is in clear violation of the law.

I have spent considerable time and effort using open records requests to attempt to get information from the Gwinnett jail on the process involved in use of reasonable effort to discern the immigration status of incoming foreign-born prisoners. I have educated reason to believe the requirements laid out in state law and detailed in the guidelines set forth by the Sheriff’s Association are routinely ignored.

Further, I have reason to believe that there are many other jailers and law enforcement officials in violation of the laws I mention here.

Due to his illegal policies Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor represents a threat to the public safety of all Georgians. Illegal immigration and the absence of enforcement of existing law is killing innocent Americans in our state. The misery caused by “criminal illegals” and anti-enforcement government officials is fully preventable.

I would be grateful for a reply.

Respectfully,

D.A. King –

Marietta  404-…….

____

Reply received 12:00 PM Feb 4, 2023

Mr. King,

I have read the letter you sent me. While I may share the concerns you raised in the letter, because this matter involves Gwinnett County, which is not in my jurisdiction, I think it would be improper for me to consider your request that I forward this information to the GBI and Attorney General.

I suggest requesting the same of elected officials in Gwinnett County.

Sincerely,

Herb Cranford

District Attorney

Coweta Judicial Circuit

Coweta County Justice Center

72 Greenville St.