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Radio: In which Martha Zoller asks senate candidate Gary Black about “people” reporting his 2011 position on amnesty

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GA Ag Commissioner and U.S. senate candidate Gary Black – Photo: Politico

Radio host asks senate candidate about amnesty and allows that we need to “update” our legal immigration system

The below is a transcript (Rev.com) of the October 11, 2021 radio interview on WDUN – AM.

Scroll down to about half-way to see relevant exchange in bold.

Here is my June, 2021 write up on the fact that Georgia Ag Commish and senate candidate Gary Black told a U.S. Senate panel that the U.S.should legalize blackmarket labor farm workers with a work permit – and require them to stay in the Ag industry to keep that new legal status. Here is a July note on former Gov. Deal’s support for Black.

Martha Zoller has not invited me on her show to refute Black’s denial that he has proposed amnesty for these illegal aliens and she has not mentioned the indentured servitude angle. We are blacklisted cancelled in Georgia media. Even the “conservative” media.

*Don’t miss the part further down in which Zoller assures listeners and her candidate guest that we need to “update” our legal immigration system – is she advocating for an increase in numbers?

–>As is his habit when reality pops up on his amenity position, Black struggled to change the topic to H2A visas. We urge voters to hit the above write up link and see exactly what he told the same senate to which he wants to be elected.

Visa overstays not included.                               

We also note that neither Black nor Zoller told listeners that about half the illegal aliens in the U.S. today did not enter the U.S. illegally.

The Martha Zoller Show

 

Martha Zoller – Photo: CSPAN

October 11, 2021

Host Martha Zoller: (00:00)
“Gary Black……  and he’s with me on the phone. And unlike, uh, President Joe Biden, who in his more than 50-year career, has never been to the U.S. border, uh, Gary Black ha- is… just came back from a trip to the United States border. Um, Gary, thank you for being with me today.

Gary Black: (00:17)
Think about this, Martha, we started talkin’ to each other on the regular 16 years ago. There’s a lot of [inaudible 00:00:24] we thought about, but none more serious than this. It’s- it’s been a very interesting weekend.

Host Martha Zoller: (00:29)
So, just give us an overview of what you did, what you saw while you were down there.

Gary Black: (00:34)
Well, very fortunate with some- some good contacts, uh, with customs, and border patrol, and the Texas Farm Bureau, and, uh, good friends there. Just said, “Look, we’ll- we’ll, uh…” Not a- not a, uh, a- a- a clean briefing. We- we wanna get in vehicles and let’s- let’s go see real activity. I was very fortunate over a period of about 36 hours to do that. We spent a good bit of Friday night on the border as close as 150 yards from the, uh, from the Rio Grande to the back paths where, uh, individuals seeking, you know, to gain entrance into, uh, into our country. You know, they pay $8,000 on the Mexican side to get in- into a boat, or a raft, or something, and then they’re ferried across, uh, and- and then we were able to see, uh, then just firsthand, Martha, literally, walking, uh, into freedom and into what has been created, uh, by the Biden and- and Warnock administration, uh, as I- I- I believe it is, uh, that way.

Gary Black: (01:36)
It’s a welcome center. We’ve set up a welcome center underneath, uh, one of the bridges there connecting Mc- McAllen, Texas, uh, to Mexico, and, uh, in just an hour and a half, we- we encountered 44, uh, women, infants, children, men, uh, just, uh, casually walking. No fear. No fear whatsoever. I was with, uh, [inaudible 00:01:59] folks, and, uh- uh, representatives of their, uh, employees union, and just, uh, no feat whatsoever. Just walking straight in, uh, and, uh, and it’s just, uh… It- it is far worse than any of us can even see on- on FOX News or anything, and- and that’s my- my personal experience.

Host Martha Zoller: (02:18)
So, what’s the answer? I mean, what… You know, if you’re elected to the United States Senate-

Gary Black: (02:23)
Yeah.

Host Martha Zoller: (02:23)
… what are you gonna try to do to fix this?

Gary Black: (02:26)
Fir- first of all, we’ve gotta turn, uh, to, uh- uh, President Trump’s policies were correct, and we had- we had put- put some, uh, other- other folks that just told us, you know, the wall was working but then the return to Mexico, the- the- the deportation was working because it was removing the incentive. We have to remove the incentive for people to just casually walk in and invade our country. So, the incentive is, uh, you know, I get to sign up. I get [inaudible 00:02:56]. I’m… I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna reunite with someone who’s already here illegally, ’cause that’s- that’s what they were- they were telling us. Uh, sometimes, uh, what they see is men come, gather, and- and- and they pay their entrance. They find employment, uh, and then wind up, uh, sendin’ for wife and- and children, and then 30 days walk from Nicaragua.

Gary Black: (03:20)
We- we encountered one lady with a terrified, I would say, five-year-old little girl out in the middle of nowhere in the dark. Th- they very likely were being re- reunited with someone else who was- who was already here illegally, so we… I think what we have to do, Martha, is- is those folks that are here need to be turned around immediately. There needs to be immediate deportation. We- we have to stop… We have to… It’s not just a matter of turning it off, turning the end of the faucet down. We’ve got to seal the border.

Gary Black: (03:52)
Right now, the United States of America, Mc- McAllen, Texas, and I suppose all across that sort of… We do not have a border, in my opinion. And so, establishing a firm border stop, secure our country policy. Anything short of that is derelict. That’s what we’re seeing out of this president. That’s what we’re seeing really out of… I- I [inaudible 00:04:14], you know, Senator Warnock, Senator Ossoff, the entire democratic, uh- uh- uh, delegation from the state of Georgia, I [inaudible 00:04:23]. I’d- I’d like to invite to host ’em. I’d- I’d love to take ’em down there, uh, and- and just see. Because we’ve gotta work together to solve this problem for our country.

Host Martha Zoller: (04:36)
Now, you probably better than anyone understand the need we have for certain types of agricultural workers and other kind of temporary workers. And you know that they… You’ve seen the criticisms of you. There are people out there that say that, you know, you are in favor of amnesty, uh, as it relates to that. And I know that that… I wanna give you a chance to answer that, but also, to- to show people or to tell people because you’ve been working with this issue of having to get the right mix of workers into this country for particular jobs for a very long time. 

Gary Black: (05:07)
Yeah, uh, thanks, Martha, because all those statements are, uh, first of all, false and foolish. And, uh- uh- uh, I’ve never been for amnesty. Uh, do we have, uh, do we have to have… And this issue, and H-2A, and those type of guest worker programs are two completely different subjects. I mean, they’re- they’re not even connected. Uh, Georgia’s- Georgia’s the largest user, uh, largest persistent… participant in the federal, the- the legal work of guest worker programs, which a- a lot of people want to do. A lot of produce- producers need, uh, access to such a program where people do work and then they go home, and there still needs to be some revisions of that program, uh, that… to make it- to make it better, but what we’re talkin’ about is the illegal invasion of our country right now. 

Gary Black: (05:59)
I- I saw it, and we’re not talkin’ about Mexicans there either. We’re talkin’ about Nicaragua, uh, Guatemala, uh, the Middle East, and then what is horrifying and- and some briefings I received on- on- on Saturday, a- a tremendous influx in Chinese. From all over the globe because they know the poorest nature of this- of this- this border, so, uh, those… That needs… It- it has to be stopped. It has to be stopped now, Martha, or our- our [inaudible 00:06:30] community in Georgia and America’s in jeopardy.

Gary Black: (06:34)
We- we encountered one gentleman, uh- uh, walkin’ up, uh, in one of the groups in, uh, like- like a- a [inaudible 00:06:41] Atlanta Braves hat, so, uh, let your- let your mind wonder rec- you know, wonder where he’s headed.

Host Martha Zoller: (06:46)
Yeah. Yeah.

Gary Black: (06:46)
And- and- and he could be- he could be a new- a new fan during the- during the playoffs for all we know, but [crosstalk 00:06:54]

Host Martha Zoller: (06:54)
Well, you know, when- when Senator Pur-

Gary Black: (06:56)
(laughs)

Host Martha Zoller: (06:57)
When Senator Purdue was in, um, office, he, along with Tom Cotton, introduced something called the RAISE Act where it took a look at-

Gary Black: (07:05)
Yeah.

Host Martha Zoller: (07:05)
… legal immigration and what needed to be done. Because, you know, as you know, we’ve got huge backlogs in the H- H-2A and H-1B visa-

Gary Black: (07:14)
Yup.

Host Martha Zoller: (07:14)
… green cards… You know, people apply for green cards because there’s a two-prong problem, right? I mean, there’s the number one thing, you’ve gotta secure the border. You gotta stop the inflow coming in. If you don’t do that you can’t do anything else. And then we’ve got a legal immigration problem that needs to be updated that really has not been updated since 1986.

Gary Black: (07:34)
Yeah, I- I look- I look forward to being a part of that solution. There- there- there are a lot of ideas out there, and- and probably… that we’re- we’re… This morning is not- not sui- suitable talk about it. We can talk about it in the future, but what- what we have to stop the incentive right now, Martha. That- that is the danger to the country is the incentive and the, uh, absolute lack of fear to just simply walk in. You know, they’ve- they’ve lost… have- have… I was with a- with a- with an agent Friday night who said… you know, who touched- who touched the human side of this, and he- he- he had to pick up a- a dead nine-year-old boy who had walked around aimlessly in, uh, between the river and this, uh, and this- this, uh… I called it the welcome center. Uh, because he just couldn’t find his way. CBP’s actually put… posted arrows now to show you- show you the way to the welcome center.

Host Martha Zoller: (08:28)
Wow.

Gary Black: (08:30)
Uh, ’cause this little- little kid had died of dehydration. And, you know, that… there is a human… There’s no doubt a human side of that, but in order to have the- the human side of- of protecting America, we have to stop this now. Remove the incentives then in tandem work on wh- wh- what… Do we need talent? Do we need, uh- uh, those types of folks that would like to live here? ‘Cause we- we are a nation of immigrants. There should be a process that people follow, and- and- and we should be selective. We should be able to, uh, you know, to engage in that process, as opposed to rollin’ out the red carpet, putting you in the queue line to gather your goods, sign up for free stuff, and then get in- get in a taxi or somewhere and- and go- and go to who knows where.

Gary Black: (09:24)
One- one of the farmers- one of the farmers, Martha, we were in a cornfield that’s in between the Trump wall and the river. And I- I was right there in the cornfield. He said, “We were harvesting corn back in July, and it was like, uh…” And these would be my words, like the Field of Dreams. The- the- there were… These illegal entrants were walking out of the- out of the cornfield and had already somehow been able to get in contact with- with individuals here that obviously they knew. They were hoppin’ in taxis, avoiding the welcome center, avoiding, uh, custom and border patrol, comin’ out of the cornfield like the Field of Dreams, hoppin’ in, uh- uh, transportation, and who knows where they are today. The federal government does not.

Host Martha Zoller: (10:14)
The federal government doesn’t know. States don’t know what people are coming and how many are coming. States don’t know how they’re coming. And, you know, Gary, I know you’re in this process and you’ve got to run a Senate race the way the process is today. But senators do not… are not beholden anymore to the states they came from. They get more involved in being a part of their caucus and doing what the caucus wants them to do. And there’s some guilt on both sides of this, and… Rather than saying, “My first priority is to Georgia. My first priority is to Texas,” Virginia, wherever they’re from. That’s what the founders intended.

Gary Black: (10:52)
It’s exactly, and it’s not… It was never intended to do this so that you could do something else, and that’s one thing as a United States senator I… This is a journey that, uh, I, you know, I see that needs to be taken, and my family, we are- we all in, uh, to try to go fix some things for this republic. I believe this republic’s worth saving, but- but it’s not a, uh, it’s not a joyride [inaudible 00:11:18] to play along so you get to do something else, for me. Uh, I- I think you know that and I- I- I’ve always stood for Georgia. I’m the… I’ve told the Trump administration, uh, what I think… what I thought about, uh, some trade issues, uh, and- and, uh, and- and other things.

Gary Black: (11:36)
And sometimes I agreed, and sometimes I didn’t, but that… I- I… Even- even in the past, you know, previous four years, I’ve stood up for Georgia, uh, even when that wasn’t cool. So, uh, it’s- it’s time that we- we put this as a top priority for national security, for domestic security, for security of our jobs and or economy, and security of the heart of the nation, which is the Constitution. Martha, they’re all in jeopardy because of this poorest… our- our lack of will, uh, to- to- to secure, uh, the border of the United States of America, and it’s gonna be a priority when I’m in the United States Senate in Georgia.

Host Martha Zoller: (12:15)
Gary Black, tell folks how they can get in touch with you and help you with your campaign.

Gary Black: (12:19)
Thanks a lot, Martha. Votegaryblack.com. Since we, uh, last talked, I… we’ve got some wonderful new resources there, and, uh, follow us on- on all the social, uh, social media, uh, platforms, and please, you know, let’s get this word out. We’ve got some very interesting and more to come, uh, this week from a video standpoint and other social media reports this week. Help us get this out, folks. Let’s secure the border and secure it now. Thank you, and God bless.

Host Martha Zoller: (12:45)
Thanks, Gary Black.

Ga. Law: Jailers must report incarcerated illegal aliens to feds – from Insider Advantage Georgia (file copy: Re: OCGA 42-4-14)

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by | Jan 26, 2021 | The Forum |

 

In 2011, Aurelio Mayo Perez, an illegal alien, was booked into the Cobb County jail for no driver’s license but released due to an immigration enforcement reduction edict from then-President Barack Obama. Two years later, Mayo Perez was charged with aggravated child molestation and rape. The name of the ten-year old girl he was convicted of repeatedly molesting is not available.

Sheriffs Craig Owens, Cobb County (L) and Keebo Taylor, Gwinnett County (R). Photo WSB TV/Twitter

Last week, newly sworn Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens held an elaborate press conference packed with invited anti-enforcement activists and proudly announced his termination of the 287(g) program. The Marietta Daily Journal described the event’s big finish with “…as the event ended, and a mariachi band began to play, the mood in the room was decidedly celebratory. The new sheriff even took to the floor and waltzed for a moment, reveling in his audience’s approval.”

Cobb County Deputy Sheriff Loren Lilly – killed in a 2007 traffic crash by an unlicensed illegal alien driver – was unable to attend.

Democrat Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid pronounced Owens’ decision “bold, necessary, and overdue.” Cobb’s new District Attorney, Flynn Broady weighed in with “this is going to make our community safer.” We recommend reading the entire MDJ report

Created by congress in 1996, and signed into law by Bill Clinton, the voluntary 287(g) program is a tool used to expand the authority of local law enforcement to locate and report illegal aliens to ICE illegal aliens in county jails. It’s a deterrent. Then-Senator Joe Biden voted in favor of passage.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Owens claims “the program morphed into one that profiled immigrants through traffic stops, which resulted in them being deported on misdemeanor charges.” While Sheriff Owens – a former Cobb County policeman – is certainly free to smear his fellow law enforcement officers with accusations of profiling, he should understand that it’s illegal aliens who are deported and that removal is the punishment for illegal immigration, not traffic violations.

Jose Alfaro-Contraras, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was one of the gunmen in an April, 2015 armed robbery of the owner of a check-cashing store in Duluth. A year earlier, Alfaro-Contraras had been in the Gwinnett County jail on a shoplifting charge. He was released because “minor crime.”

The above examples are taken from a 2017 report “Jail records reveal immigrants not deported after minor crimes later commit worse ones” from Atlanta’s Fox Five TV News investigative reporter Randy Travis.

In Gwinnett, on his first day in office, Sheriff Keybo Taylor made his enforcement policy clear when he quit the 287(g) program: “What we will not be doing is notifying ICE of anybody’s immigration status in the jail or any of our facilities…” said Taylor at his own presser. He told a local NPR interviewer 287(g) is slanted towards “people of color.”

Gwinnett County, Georgia Sheriff Kebo Taylor and state law. Photo (Dustin Inman Society) not part of original IAG post.

“So basically, what that program started to do was target, uh, you know, people of color that were in this country that’s undocumented, so, you know, it became, you know, a racist issue for me…”,

He says he would rather focus on gang members. I was curious, so I checked with experts on gangs in Gwinnett and the skin color concern Taylor expressed. But on that topic Sheriff Taylor does have concerns about borders “…crime and criminals…they don’t, they do not respect borders, so, you know, it’s nothing to come from Atlanta to Gwinnett County…” says Taylor. Indeed.

In print and radio interviews, both sheriffs have done a remarkable job of learning and adhering to the anti-287(g) talking points distributed by the far-left. Below are some of those tips from a 2008 ACLU ‘toolkit.’

‘How to oppose 287(g) agreements in your state or locality’

*Always describe how police enforcement of immigration laws endangers public safety for everyone.

*Assert that local police of immigration laws will result in widespread racial profiling.

*Assert that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government.

*Assert that police resources are stretched thin already.

Is long-standing Ga. law being enforced?

Attention Georgia prosecutors, including Flynn Broady: Independent of 287(g), longstanding (2006) state law (OCGA 42-4-14) requires jailers to check the immigration status of incoming foreign prisoners. “If the foreign national is determined to be an illegal alien, the keeper of the jail or other officer shall notify the United States Department of Homeland Security, or other office or agency designated for notification by the federal government.”

D.A. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society.

That’s not accurate, Mr. Germany: Fact checking Ryan Germany, General Counsel to Georgia’s SoS on his testimony on HB 228  

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Georgia Capitol Building. Photo: Twitter

 

Fate of HB 228 could hang on “expert” testimony

 With a note on Shevondah Leslie and DDS

 

In his long testimony to a legislative committee chock full of senior House members, Georgia Secretary of State General Counsel Ryan Germany passed on a remarkable amount of inaccurate and incomplete “facts” last Friday. From where this writer was sitting it appeared the assignment was to kill the measure at hand, HB 228.

The bill is aimed at voter ID integrity.

The hearing in the Special Committee on Election Integrity admittedly involved “in the weeds” details on immigration law. But it also dealt with Motor Voter registration, Georgia driving credentials, ID Cards given to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals and the security measures involved in the issuing process. In addition to Germany’s, the general lack of knowledge of many of the legislators was quite extraordinary.

Example? In a state where legislators endlessly seek to increase foreign labor, exactly who can obtain a Social Security number seems to be a deep and mysterious unknown.

From a transcript of the hearing on voter security and “proper identification” at the polls:

Committee member and Speaker Pro-Tem Jan Jones to Ryan: “So I guess follow up if you’re not a citizen, you wouldn’t have social security number?”

From the witness podium, Secretary of State General Counsel Germany: “Uh, I believe it’s possible to have a social if you’re not a citizen, but it’s, but it’s not, it’s not, um, a typical occurrence by any means.”

That’s not accurate Mr. Germany

GA Secretary of State General Counsel Ryan Germany. Photo: Law.com

The fact that Ryan Germany was put in a position to influence the outcome of pending legislation and apparently does not know his statement to the House Speaker Pro Tem is wildly wrong should be alarming to all concerned.

The reality is that foreign nationals aka “non-citizens” aka “aliens” can easily obtain a Social Security number. It is a very “typical occurrence.”

Virtually every legal immigrant (green card holder) in the U.S. – and we take in about a million every year – is given a Social Security number and they are under no obligation to ever become American citizens. Guest workers here on temporary visas are issued Social Security Numbers – more than 1.4 million guest workers in 2013 (for example). As is mentioned further down, about 600,000 illegal aliens have been issued Social Security numbers.

*In his testimony and a response to another question from Speaker Pro Tem Jones, SoS General Counsel Germany told her “So, um, that means that when, when they’re checking their status at DDS, when you’re checking either citizen or, you know, legal resident, um, because it’s non-legal residents cannot get driver’s licenses or IDs in Georgia.”

That’s not accurate, Mr. Germany.

For brevity here, let’s consider the more than twenty thousand illegal aliens who are beneficiaries of Barack Obama’s ‘Deferred Action on Deportation for Childhood Arrivals’ (DACA recipients) who have Georgia drivers licenses and/or official ID Cards – and Social Security numbers.

This is due to the fact that the REAL ID Act contains a section (MINIMUM DOCUMENT REQUIREMENT AND ISSUANCE STANDARDS… (Sec. 202, (2) (B) ) which says illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation (and other categories of administrative status) have “legal status” for purposes of drivers licenses and ID cards only. The status does not transfer out of that narrow regulation.

For example, these illegal aliens with DACA have Georgia drivers licenses and ID Cards but are not allowed instate tuition rates at USG/TCSG schools. While he is stone silent on the entire issue as governor, in 2018 even then-candidate Brian Kemp recognized that “illegal immigrants” with DACA do not qualify for the Hope scholarship. No Obamacare either. Why? Because they are, using the words of Ryan Germany, “non-legal residents.”

In a March, 2019 opinion the 11th circuit appellate court noted the obvious: “As DACA recipients, they simply were given a reprieve from potential removal; that does not mean they are in any way ‘lawfully present under the (INA) act.” Even the liberal AJC reported it.

We noted that decision in 2019 with observations on how public benefits are administered in Georgia.

Text of HB 228 as introduced here.

—>Update: October 18, 2021: Current version (committee substitute) of HB 228 here. 

Rep Charlice Byrd. Photo: Asian Times.

Bonus for General Counsel Ryan Germany and the Georgia legislature:

It is very possible Mr. Germany lacks this knowledge. The committee considering HB 228 should not have similar gaps of information.

On the topic of REAL ID compliant credentials, Germany informed the committee considering DDS-issued credentials used as voter ID that “…since 2012, I believe (DDS) has only issued Real IDs for driver’s license or state ID.”

Ryan Germany testifies to the Special Committee on Election Integrity Feb 26, 2021. Photo: dak

Not exactly, Mr. Germany.

As I type, I am looking at my own Georgia drivers license issued in January 2016. It is not REAL ID compliant. It has no gold star. What Germany omitted in his “expert” education to legislators in the HB228 hearing is the fact that if anyone obtains both an ID card and a DL DDS will only make one document REAL ID Act compliant – which is noted with a gold star in upper right corner.

Photo dak

It should be made clear – again – that the illegal aliens with Georgia-issued drivers licenses and ID Cards are given the same credentials as U.S. citizens with the exception of the words “LIMITED TERM” on top.

Here, we insert an April, 2019 news item from the liberal AJC: Georgia leads nation in motor voter registrations

“Amid heated battles over voting rights, Georgia has emerged as an unlikely national leader in automatic voter registration, according to a study this month by the Brennan Center for Justice. The study estimated that 94% more voters registered in Georgia than if the state hadn’t implemented automatic voter registration in September 2016.”

House Bill 228 is designed to make human and/or systemic error resulting in illegal voting much less possible. The bill closes a loophole in current law that does not prohibit foreign national’s drivers licenses and/or ID Cards from acceptance as “proper identification” at the Georgia’s polls. It clearly marks these documents with “BEARER NOT A U.S. CITIZEN – NOT VALID VOTER ID.”

The committee hearing HB 228 seemed to reject the multiple liberal media stories presented documenting foreign nationals being registered to vote through the Motor Voter system. But it was clear they hung on every word from General Counsel Ryan Germany.

That is accurate, Mr. Germany

It is not apparent that the committee realized one of Germany’s most important statements came in his answer to another question from Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones. She asked “is it possible though for a non citizen, um, to accidentally be registered to vote, say at the county level, if they go to their county board registration to register that?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s impossible” was Germany’s reply.

That is accurate, Mr. Germany.

A parting note on DDS testimony at the same hearing

“A Georgia DL/ID is not proof of lawful status in the U.S. so it is important to note that an expired LIMITED-TERM card does not mean the person is in the country illegally.” – statement on the DDS website as of 2:25 PM March 2, 2021..

We are focused on testimony in committee from “experts” to legislators with apparent wide gaps in knowledge of immigration law and how secure credentials are issued in Georgia. It’s a good place for a quick note on the video testimony of Ms. Shevondah Leslie who is Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) Director of Governmental Affairs and Communications.

Space here does not allow extensive coverage, but Leslie effectively told committee members multiple times that everyone who is issued a Georgia drivers license and/or ID Card is “lawfully present.”

To repeat information offered above, the federal government – the source of immigration laws that decide status – tells us something quite different. So does a former federal immigration judge.

It is long past time that responsible lawmakers pay attention.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) puts it a different way:

“Current law does not grant any legal status for the class of individuals who are current recipients of DACA. Recipients of DACA are currently unlawfully present in the U.S. with their removal deferred” – here.

 

Again, more than twenty thousand DACA recipients alone have Georgia drivers licenses and/or ID Cards. There are other categories of illegal aliens with state ID credentials.

In response to inquiries from past state legislators, DDS has revealed that the SAVE system does not confirm “lawful presence” for DACA recipients – but rather temporary employment authorization. That phrase notes that Obama gave these illegal aliens a work permit and an SSN. It does not in any way contradict the laws from congress as noted in the 11th circuit appellate court decision.

_____

The problem with SAVE.

_____

In response to questions on the non-citizen drivers licenses a DDS spox once told a news outlet

“DDS has not changed the policy regarding driver’s license and/or identification card issuance to non-citizens. Those non-citizens in Deferred Action Status are eligible for GA licenses and IDs per the Federal Dream Act (assuming that they meet all other GA licensing criteria). Here.

We hope that it does not come as news to readers here that the DREAM Act failed to pass in congress multiple times. There is no “federal DREAM Act.” You can read that one here.

A DDS liaison once assured a state legislator, in writing, “we don’t issue cards to illegal aliens.”

There is much more information available for lawmakers who want to make educated decisions on all matters immigration and “non-citizens.” That issue is crucial to HB 228 which is focused on clarifying and ease of recognition the ID we give to foreigners in Georgia.

Indoor billboard outside Ga. Gov. Kemp’s Gold dome office. Photo: dak 26Feb2021.

For Georgians curious as to why there is a thunderclap of instant and powerful opposition to adding clarifying wording on credentials issued to foreign nationals, it should be noted that a very important goal of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce is more, not fewer foreign workers in “the number one state for business.” Any change in marking these documents is counter to the already announced goal from the business lobby at the leftist Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.– drivers licenses for all “immigrants” – legal or not. Election integrity comes behind that ambition for far too many obedient people in power in Georgia.

Like in California.

—

Note: A link to the official video record and transcript of the February 26, 2021 hearing can be accessed on the ImmigrationPoliticsGA website.

*Updated March 6, 11:13 PM. Corrected (deleted) a repeated paragraph typo concerning Ryan Germany response to Speaker Pro Team Jones on “…non-legal residents cannot get driver’s licenses or IDs in Georgia.” I regret the error. dak

Updated jan 5, 2022 to expand stated number of illegal aliens with SSNs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presidential election: Whatever Happened to Immigration?

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Photo: Reuters

Column: The issue driving the populist revolt has disappeared in 2020

Washington Free Beacon

Mathew Contineti – October 9, 2020

It is a sign of the times that immigration has not been mentioned in three hours of debate between the presidential tickets. A review of the transcripts of both the presidential and vice-presidential encounters finds no questions asked nor answers proffered about an issue that until only recently defined much of our politics and distinguished our two parties. Needless to say, both moderators wanted to know where the candidates stand on climate change, which routinely drifts toward the bottom of any list of public priorities.

Why the omission? It is tempting to say that immigration did not come up because the elites who manage the presidential debates are uncomfortable with the topic, are worried that the issue favors Republican border hawks, and are more interested in subjects relevant to their cultural coterie. But it is also true that presidential debates tend to focus on current events and pressing challenges, and that immigration just does not seem as great a concern today as the coronavirus, the economy, race relations and civil unrest, and California brushfires.

The apparent irrelevance of immigration and border security to the election might also be attributed to the achievements of the Trump administration. But these achievements are partial, tenuous, and dependent on events and relationships and court decisions. And they are easily reversed. What should worry the president is that the somnolence on the border deprives him of the very issue that propelled his rise to power, and that drove the populist revolt against the Washington establishment whose offshoots included the Ron Paul candidacies, the Tea Party, and Republican victories in 2014 and 2016. Immigration is next only to the economy and to the courts as a place where the president can contrast his record and agenda with Biden’s and appeal to national solidarity and historical tradition. His parlous electoral status may be related to the fact that immigration is not much of a factor in this most unusual campaign.

There is no gainsaying immigration’s importance to the Trump presidency. It was immigration that triggered the grassroots rebellion against the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, and against congressional supporters of amnesty for illegal immigrants, culminating in Trump’s 2016 primary victory. Immigration became the touchstone of Trump’s campaign on day one and served as the cudgel by which he defeated Jeb Bush and other Republicans for whom the Bush-Obama approach to legalization was correct. The border wall was not only a rallying cry but also a symbol of how a Trump presidency would privilege American citizens above all else. And Trump fused immigration to economics, by opposing H-1B visas; to crime, by highlighting gang activity; and to national security, by enacting his travel ban against countries that sponsor terrorism.

Read the rest here.

 

What Is DACA? Is it a rule or is it prosecutorial discretion?

By

DACA illegal aliens protesting for permanent t amnesty. Photo: The Independent.

Center for Immigration Studies

Janet Napolitano’s DACA memorandum states that DACA is an “exercise of our prosecutorial discretion”..Prosecutorial discretion is not judicially reviewable.”

What Is DACA?

Is it a rule or is it prosecutorial discretion?

By John Miano on November 15, 2019I previously wrote about how the elite media has totally ignored the legal issues in its coverage of the DACA case before the Supreme Court. I thought I would fill in some of the gaps left by the press’s gross malpractice here. My only real interest in DACA is over the alien employment issue. However, more mundane issues of administrative law are likely to dominate the Supreme Court’s opinions.

A key question for the Supreme Court is “What is DACA?” The New York Times answers that question this way:

The program was introduced in 2012 by President Barack Obama as a stopgap measure that would shield from deportation people who were brought into the United States as children. The status is renewable, lasting two years at a time. The program does not provide a pathway to citizenship.

Participation in the program comes with a range of benefits. Along with permission to remain in the country, recipients can also get work permits, through which many have obtained health insurance from their employers.

To make this description complete, one needs to add that the alien has to file an application and pay a $495 fee.

In any event, this describes what DACA does, not what DACA is. So what is DACA? The answer to that question should drive the case, but the parties have tried to avoid the issue.

Janet Napolitano’s DACA memorandum states that DACA is an “exercise of our prosecutorial discretion”.

Prosecutorial discretion is integral to our system of law. Assume you are riding a crowded bus in Florida and you need to get past someone in order to get off. So you tap that person lightly on the shoulder to attract their attention. In doing so you have committed the crime of battery and could go to jail absent prosecutorial discretion not to prosecute such cases. At the same time discretion can be abusive, as in the Jeffrey Epstein matter.

If DACA is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, the case before the Supreme Court is simple. Prosecutorial discretion is not judicially reviewable. Faced with that established law, the University of California argued before the Supreme Court that when the prosecutorial discretion involves a large number of people it becomes reviewable. Justices Alito and Gorsuch (twice) asked the obvious question: What rule should the Supreme Court adopt to distinguish between prosecutorial discretion that is not reviewable and that which is. The answers were:

It’s a composite — in this case, it’s a composite of principles, a determination that — a categorical determination involving a substantial number of people …

and

Well [] — there — as I said, it’s a combination of factors which include the government inviting people to rely upon and make decisions based upon that policy, the provision of benefits connected with it, individuals making choices, and — and then — and the Heckler case — [] specifically.

These are non-answers. It is surprising the University of California did not prepare a proposed rule for the court to adopt.

Going back to Napolitano’s original memo, it states:

This memorandum confers no substantive right, immigration status or pathway to citizenship. Only the Congress, acting through its legislative authority, can confer these rights. It remains for the executive branch, however, to set forth policy for the exercise of discretion within the framework of the existing law.

The memo from John Morton, director of ICE, ordering the implementation of DACA in his agency said:

As there is no right to the favorable exercise of discretion by the agency, nothing in this memorandum should be construed to prohibit the apprehension, detention, or removal of any alien unlawfully in the United States or to limit the legal authority of DHS or any of its personnel to enforce federal immigration law. Similarly, this memorandum, which may be modified, superseded, or rescinded at any time without notice, is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any party in any administrative, civil, or criminal matter.

Napolitano as plaintiff argues that DACA created reliance on the program while her memo directing the creation of the program disclaims that is creates anything to be relied on and ICE made it clear that DACA could be rescinded at any time. (I refer to the respondents as the plaintiffs because that usage is likely clearest to most readers.)

At this point, it is time to stop calling a “spade” a “gardening tool”. DACA is not an exercise in prosecutorial discretion and Napolitano’s DACA memo was just a subterfuge. To participate one has to file an application. One has to file a $495 fee. DACA has a two-year duration. One gets a work authorization. DACA does not reflect the agency looking at individual cases and deciding whether they should be prosecuted.

The chief justice picked up on exactly that:

the whole thing was about work authorization and these other benefits. Both administrations have said they’re not going to deport people. So the deferred prosecution or deferred deportation, that’s not what the focus of the policy was. Yes, the other statutes provided that, but it was triggered by — by the memo.

The University of California correctly notes that the employment under DACA came from “under other unchallenged laws [i.e., regulations]”.

Indeed, that is because neither party had any incentive to question whether the regulations granting work authorizations were lawful. DACA recipients were never going to argue that the regulations that allowed them to work were unlawful. The immigration bureaucracy within DHS was not going to question whether its own regulations were lawful. When several states challenged the related DAPA program, the ability to confer work authorizations was addressed in an adversarial context.

This issue is one where amicus briefs stepped in. Four of the seven supporting the government raised the employment authorization issue that the government had neglected to raise. (See here, here, here, and my own, here.)

Unless the Supreme Court changes the rule that agency enforcement discretion is not judicially reviewable, the DACA rescission cannot be reviewed.

In any event, to be reviewed for being arbitrary and capricious, it has to be a reviewable agency action. That means a rule, order, license, sanction, relief, or the equivalent or denial thereof, or failure to act.

Logically, the rescission of DACA has to be the same type of agency action that created it. If it is not, that opens another string of legal argument beyond what I can address here. To that end, the courts below rejected the argument that the DACA program, created without notice and comment, had to be rescinded with notice and comment.

Which of these is the DACA? We know it is not a failure to act. License and sanction are easy ones to take off the table. An order means “a final disposition” so that one can go as well. Relief is a:

(A) grant of money, assistance, license, authority, exemption, exception, privilege, or remedy;

(B) recognition of a claim, right, immunity, privilege, exemption, or exception; or

(C) taking of other action on the application or petition of, and beneficial to, a person.

The granting of a DACA application could be relief but does not describe the DACA program.

That leaves a rule, which is:

The whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency and includes the approval or prescription for the future of rates, wages, corporate or financial structures or reorganizations thereof, prices, facilities, appliances, services or allowances therefor or of valuations, costs, or accounting, or practices bearing on any of the foregoing.

If we call DACA a “rule”, which is certainly its most accurate description, that creates a whole new set of issues. The courts differentiatebetween substantive rules and interpretive rules.

Read the rest here.

 

FU! Laura Emiko Soltis explains that nation states should not exist and doesn’t think much of the concept of citizenship

By

Laura Emiko Soltis, Executive Director of Atlanta’s ‘Freedom Un iversity’ – hidden school for illegal aliens. Image: Forbes

The term “undocumented’ is racial code.”

From CampusReform.com

By Kyle Hooten

Director of illegal alien ‘university’ says nation states ‘should not exist,’ citizenship is ‘completely arbitrary’

  • Representatives from Freedom University, an educational institution with an undisclosed location dedicated to helping illegal aliens, spoke at St. Olaf College.
  • F.U.’s executive director, Laura Soltis, said nation states “should not exist” and that citizenship is “completely arbitrary.”
  • She also bragged about school members’ civil disobedience and arrest records.

Borders are not completely legitimate, citizenship is “ridiculous,” and the nation-state itself has no place in the future, according to the executive director of one Georgia university.

Freedom University prides itself on serving exclusively illegal alien students and advocating a progressive stance on immigration. On Monday, St. Olaf College in Minnesota hosted Dr. Laura Soltis, the school’s executive director, and Arizbeth Sanchez, its Community Engagement Coordinator, as well as an alum and current Freedom student to deliver a talk on “Solidarity In A New ICE Age,” attended by Campus Reform.

“We happen to be born within these man-made borders, right? What a completely ridiculous way to define citizenship, right?”

Before launching into declarations that the world would be better off without countries, the group began their hour-and-a-half on stage by providing some background on the work of Freedom University. Freedom was founded as a response to Georgia’s policy dictating that illegal aliens are entitled to free K-12 education, but may not attend the state’s public universities.

Soltis and her associates explained that Freedom University refers to itself as F. U., and brands this slogan on its official school T-shirts, like the one seen below. Read the rest here.

More on Soltis (“undocumented’ is racial code) here.

And here.

 

Will the General Assembly reverse the 2018 GDOT carve-out on E-Verify for contractor bids? – from Insider Advantage Georgia

By

Image: IAG

Insider Advantage Georgia

January 30 2019

Will the General Assembly reverse the 2018 GDOT carve-out on E-Verify for contractor bids?

D.A. King

In last year’s legislative session Republican state Senator Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) introduced legislation that gutted the process intended to ensure that the Georgia Department of Transportation hires contractors that are using a legal workforce. In the haste and bedlam of 2018’s Sine Die, Senate Bill 445 sailed through both the House and Senate.

It is notable that SB 445 went through the Senate Transportation Committee, as Senators Brandon Beach, Butch Miller, Frank Ginn and Mike Dugan were bill signers, in that order. All are transportation committee members — with Beach as chairman.

On SB 445, Chairman Beach made it clear in his committee that “it’s a DOT bill” (professional transcription here. – two-minute archived committee video here).

Now that the cat is out of the bag on this caper- and we have a new governor — one “important issue” for the 2019 session should be to see if lawmakers will reinstate the bidding system for GDOT that all other public employers and their contractors are still supposed to follow.

We recognize many readers will view this as a dry topic – the only folks who may have a concern are those who don’t want their taxes used to pay illegal aliens on GDOT projects.

After mandates were put into place in the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006 (SB 529) to require all public employers and contractors to use E-Verify, adjustments were made in HB2 of 2009 to deal with the obvious problem that some public contractors were bidding on – and winning – contracts with bids that were based on the cost of black market labor before they swore on an affidavit that they were using E-Verify. This allowed contractors to hire a crew for a job that could not be verified as eligible to work using the E-Verify system, which can only be used for newly hired employees after receiving authorization from the feds to use the online system.

The 2009 solution to this chicanery was to change the law so that bids are not considered unless and until the E-Verify affidavit is presented.

In his quick presentation of the measure, Sen. Gooch told the committee the changes to the GDOT bid rules were being proposed to make life easier for contractors.

“Section 3… makes clear that the deadline for a bidder to supply their signed notarized e-verify affidavit is prior to contract award as opposed to the bid submission. This has caused a problem with some of the contractors that submitted their e-verify affidavits but they didn’t reach to the department either by mail or by other means of delivery in time for the bid, um, deadlines and therefore they were disqualified from bidding on the work. Now essentially requires ’em to submit those E-Verifies prior to the contracts being awarded” said Gooch (emphasis mine).

It is hard to accept that this is a constructive or plausible reason to make changes to the GDOT bidding system, as the existing law is clear that bids and E-Verify affidavits may be submitted electronically. If a contract bidder is indeed an E-Verify user, he can easily send that documentation along with his bid from his computer.

This writer asked GDOT for comment on this curious scenario.  One of the questions asked for verification that SB 445 was in fact a GDOT bill, as Chairman Beach told the committee. That question went unanswered.

This is not the first adventure in state law on E-Verify, bids, and contractors for GDOT.

CBS Atlanta 46 TV News did a series of stories on GDOT’s violations of the bidding/E-Verify law in 2010 that illustrated the lack of concern for the hard-fought mandate designed to make Georgia unwelcoming to illegal employers and illegal labor – and to safeguard taxpayer dollars. We have archived some of those reports:

* “Activist: GDOT Is Breaking State’s Immigration Law – Violation May Make It Easier For Contractors To Hire Illegal Immigrants. Here.

* “CBS Atlanta Asks If GDOT Contractor Is Hiring Illegal Workers.” CBS Atlanta 46 news video here.

* “GDOT Didn’t Know About The Illegal Immigrant Labor Law.” Here.

* “Federal Document Shows GDOT Contractor Lied On Affidavit – Company Swore To Check Employee’s Legal Status in Federal Database.” Here.

* “GDOT: Worker May Have Been Illegal. The Georgia Department of Transportation said Wednesday that one of its subcontractors may have been in the country illegally. The admission came after a CBS Atlanta investigation…” (No link)

* “GDOT Admits Mistake For Breaking Immigration Law: GDOT Commissioner Dodges Tough Questions About Hiring Illegal Worker.” Here.

IAG will follow up on this later in the legislative session, there is more.

You read it here first.

D.A. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com. He has worked on the law featured above since 2006.