Rioters across the United States have waved Mexican flags in various American cities to protest the death of George Floyd, allegedly at the hands of a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer.

While rioters waved Mexican flags, American flags were routinely burned at riots in Los Angeles, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Portland, Oregon; and Chicago, Illinois.

(Note: Atlanta’s mayor has already signed legislation to close the city’s jail)

The letter pasted below was sent to the mayor of Atlanta recently and distributed on May 28, 2020. I have added a few educational links to the letter. My links are noted with an *asterisk.

The letter below:

Dear Members of the Atlanta City Council:

 We, as *immigrants’ rights organizations, write this letter to urge you to support an upcoming budget amendment that will finally close the city jail and redirect the $18 million currently allocated to the Atlanta Department of Corrections (ADOC) in the proposed 2020-21 city budget to services to promote the health and wellness of all Atlantans.

 To date, while *the City of Atlanta terminated the contract with ICE, ACDC to this day still incarcerates our community members, primarily on minor or petty offenses. It is time to end the cruel, unnecessary, and unhelpful incarceration of all human beings at ACDC.  The city’s commitment to close and *repurpose the jail cannot be reconciled with allocating millions of dollars to its operation in the coming year. At a time of public health crisis and a loss of millions in the City’s revenue, it is unconscionable for the City of Atlanta to spend $18 million to continue to operate a jail that sits mostly empty and is already slated for closure and repurposing.

 We ask that you support the amendment to zero out the FY21 budget for the Department of Corrections and announce a date certain for the jail’s closure.

 Just two years ago, many of our organizations testified before the City Council on the human rights violations occurring at the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC), and called for terminating the contract with ICE and closing the jail altogether. These violations, described at length in Project South and Georgia Detention Watch’s 2018 Report titled, Inside Atlanta’s Immigrant Cages, highlighted: lack of medical care and mental health care, unsanitary living conditions, lack of edible food, abusive labor practices, lack of religious accommodations, verbal abuse by officers, overuse and abusive use of solitary confinement, and more.^[1]

 After years of advocacy from community organizations to close the detention center and end immigration detention in Atlanta, the Mayor created an advisory committee to make a recommendation as to whether the City of Atlanta should end the contract with ICE that allowed for the detention of immigrants at ACDC. After hearing from directly impacted individuals who *testified to the horrid conditions at the facility and urged the Mayor to shut the facility down, the advisory committee recommended that the mayor end the contract to detain immigrants with ICE. The committee recognized that detaining immigrants at ACDC was inhumane.

*Terminating the contract with ICE was an important step towards Atlanta becoming a more welcoming city – one that prioritizes community-based care and support over punitive spaces for warehousing human beings. In the year that followed, we heard from organizers and residents throughout the city of Atlanta who are ready to see the jail closed, and the Mayor committed to shutting down and repurposing ACDC. Over the past two years, we were proud to see Atlanta praised, both locally and nationally for the collaborative development of a bold and compassionate plan to divest from incarceration and invest in real solutions for Atlanta’s marginalized communities.

 Now more than ever, we must put an end to locking people in cages for petty offenses such as jaywalking and disorderly conduct, wasting desperately needed resources, criminalizing people for being poor, and making us all less safe.

 We respectfully ask that you support our proposal and vote to zero out this year’s budget for the Department of Corrections and set a date for the jail’s closure.

 Sincerely,

 *

Project South (Institute for Elimination of Poverty and Genocide) 

Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR)

Georgia Detention Watch

Innovation Law Lab

Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)

I am not aware of an educated, fearless, pro-enforcement immigration voice in the extremely slim pickings of conservative Georgia radio. But I have only been fighting illegal immigration here since 2003.

For readers who want to hear interviews and news on America’s illegal immigration crisis that is not filtered by the anti-enforcement establishment, we proudly recommend the El Conservador Radio Show with George Rodriquez from 930 AM The Answer from Antonio, Texas, USA. You can listen online anytime you choose. While all George’s shows are interesting and educational, we hope you will start online listening with his April 25, 2020 show on which George hosts a very impressive list of expert voices including former ICE Director Tom Homan (Tom’s new book here), Dan Lyman from Info-Wars/Europe, Dave Ray from FAIR in D.C., and Todd Bensman from Center for Immigration Studies. 

“George Rodriguez is a nationally known blogger and commentator who has served the South Texas State coordinator for the national Tea Party Patriots, is regular guest on Fox News, Univision and various state and national news outlets. He has also spoken around the nation at many rallies.

George was born in Laredo, Texas, and raised in San Antonio. He has dedicated his life to sharing conservative values with Hispanics and all Americans. As a Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush appointee, George worked with the Department of Justice in community relations and immigration outreach. He also worked with the White House Office of Public Liaison on community outreach, with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) on judiciary legislation including civil rights and immigration, and with Congressman Tom Delay on Hispanic outreach.”

We also note that along with Mr. Homan and a list of other immigration authorities, George was kind enough to travel from South Texas to speak at the ‘Honoring Immigrants, an Expert, Pro-Enforcement Discussion on Immigration‘ event held by the Dustin Inman Society on February 8 here in the Atlanta area. We posted photos of that surprise snow-day program on the Dustin Inman Society blog page.

The great ‘El Conservador’ has even hosted yours truly on his show several times.

You can bookmark the El Conservador radio show and archived shows here (Facebook here) and contact George and listen to the terrific April 25, 2020 show mentioned above here or use the embedded image below. George Rodriguez is a Great American!

Georgia state Rep Chuck Martin, Chairman of the House Higher education Committee is quoted in the liberal AJC as saying that the legislature will work on rewarding illegal aliens with instate tuition next year.

From the liberal AJC: “Chairman Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, did not motion for the committee to vote on the bill, and he said it could conflict with federal immigration law. He said he wants to wait for a U.S. Supreme Court decision on DACA that’s expected later this year.”

“We’re going to work toward something in the next legislative session” is the quote from Rep Chuck Martin concerning changing state law so that illegal aliens could access the lower tuition rate that is not available to Americans from other states like Michigan or Ohio, for example.

Martin was commenting on his committee’s lack of a vote to advance a bill from Dalton Republican Kasey Carpenter (HB 997) and several Democrat cosponsors that would have changed state law so that illegal aliens would be eligible for the much lower instate tuition rate from which they are now excluded. The story from the liberal AJC can be read here. 

My recent Dalton Daily Citizen column on Carpenter’s bill and instate tuition here.

HB444 billed as ‘reform’ to dual enrollment program but does not change lack of screening for illegals

 *UPDATE – 8:50 PM. I  was informed about 5:30 this evening that although it wasn’t on the Rules calendar, while I was writing the below column, House leadership put the HB444 bill on members desks and held a surprise vote today. This was done because we were shining way too much light on the DE program and the bill. Too many House Reps were starting to ask questions. They voted about 12:30-ish I am told. The bill passed (they agreed to senate version).

Never let it be said that Gov Kemp and Speaker Ralston won’t work together.

“They shoved it down our throats. If I had known all this, I never would have voted to agree” one GOP Rep told me this evening. 

__*UPDATED with vote records March 6, 2020 10:48AM. See bottom of column.

Spoiler alert to this post: While it is billed as a way to produce a more educated workforce, the Georgia dual enrollment program allows high school students to attend public universities at zero tuition cost. It has no verification system to keep illegal aliens out of the taxpayer-funded system. And, unless they have the Obama DACA amnesty, which provides a work permit, illegal aliens are not eligible to work anywhere in the United States.

It seems that Gov. Kemp’s office is quite anxious to see his dual enrollment “reform” bill (HB444) passed and is contacting House members to gauge support. A note from Kemp’s Deputy Director of External Affairs, Stuart Wilkinson, to House members (apparently only GOP members) illustrates the urgency and interest. Delivered to members yesterday, this came to us from several pro-enforcement lawmakers:

“Good Afternoon,

We understand that HB 444, the Governor’s dual enrollment bill, will be called for an agree this week. The Governor hopes he can count on your support with a YES vote. Please let us know if there are any issues you want to discuss or are not able to vote YES.

Thanks,

Stuart Wilkinson”

The dual enrollment program (DE) allows high school students to attend public-funded college classes in the taxpayer-funded USG system at zero tuition cost to the student.  Zero cost is a much better benefit than the reduced rate of instate tuition!

With stated goal of reducing costs of DE, HB444 was introduced by a Kemp floor leader and passed last year in the House and then was amended and passed by the state senate earlier this year– handled by a Kemp floor leader.

The liberal AJC did a good job of explaining DE and Kemp’s intent in his reform move here, but they did not include any of the obvious pertinent information on illegal alien students. Neither did they do a story when I asked how many illegal alien high school students are right now receiving a totally free ride in USG classroom seats.

AJC:

“Georgia House Bill 444 would significantly change the state’s popular dual enrollment program that allows high school students to take state-funded college courses.

Supporters of the bill say the program’s costs have skyrocketed in recent years and changes are necessary to make it sustainable. About 52,000 students are currently enrolled in the program.

Critics say the changes will limit education opportunities for many low-income and rural students.

Here are five things to know about the dual enrollment program and proposed legislation, according to information in the bill and its sponsor, state Rep. Bert Reeves, R-Marietta.”

Please read the rest here.

And note that there is no change to the fact that there is no verification to exclude illegals.

As Gov. Kemp’s staffer tells House members in his note yesterday, HB444 will see a call to agree with the senate changes this week, which will send the bill to Gov Kemp’s desk for signing.

Nothing in the original DE program, the Kemp House bill from last year or the senate changes this year includes any requirement that illegal aliens be screened out of the free (taxpayer-funded) college courses.

Not so after high school graduation. See the USG verification system to insure illegal aliens do not receive reduced tuition rates for those applicants here.

Gov. Kemp’s office phone number is 404-656-1776. He is knowingly allowing illegal aliens in high school to obtain a no-cost college education – and Georgia citizens are being billed.

We hope you ask your own Rep how they are going to vote on HB 444 – and how they voted on it last year.

We will post all voting records next week.

Vote records as promised. Pasted from the General Assembly website.

Mar/03/2020 – House Vote #521Yea(103) Nay(67) NV(1)

Excu (excused) (9)