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Georgia Budget and Policy Institute’s Senior Policy Analyst for Higher Education Should Apologize to State Legislators @GABudget

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Image: Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Lee should correct her agenda-driven inaccuracy

Now that yet another instate tuition for illegal aliens bill (HB 120) has been stopped in Georgia, when will the GBPI board post a correction and apologize to trusting state legislators for fake “facts” ?

FACT: “Illegal aliens who have been awarded deferred action on deportation proceedings through the DACA amnesty by both the Obama and Trump administrations are illegal aliens and do not have “lawful presence” says the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision was handed down March 6, 2019.”

Fast Fact: Appellate Court: Not lawfully present, illegal aliens with DACA are illegal aliens – Georgia issuing public benefits based on disputed status, D.A. King, on ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com, March 8, 2019

FICTION: “Estrada is one of about 21,600 undocumented young people who participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in Georgia. Through DACA, she is lawfully present in the U.S., but Georgia policy requires she pay out-of-state tuition rates three times higher than in-state tuition.”

 “Extending In-state Tuition to Dreamers Creates Opportunity for Georgia” – Jennifer Lee, Senior Policy Analyst for Higher Education, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute,  April 23, 2019

Photo: Twitter

 

 

Amnesty quotes: Gary Black, Georgia’s Ag Commissioner and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate on legalization for illegal alien farm workers and indentured servitude

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

 

 

“Regretfully, a large number of illegal immigrants are working in agriculture today. A penalty- based work authorization permit should be considered for offenders. Such a measure could require substantial monetary fines, an annually renewed biometric permit supported by fees that is restricted for agriculture and strict employer enforcement after implementation.”

Gary Black, Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, October 4, 2011. Entire testimony here.

Fast Fact: Georgia Secretary of State says it looks like about 1600 “non-citizens” tried to vote in 2020 election – and about 30,000 voters skipped the presidential race

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From Ga Pundit newsletter today
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger spoke about election procedures in Liberty County, according to WTOC.
Raffensperger said he came to set the record straight about the state’s election integrity. This, of course, stems from the uproar the state faced after the 2020 presidential election.
“Georgia is recognized as #1 for election integrity in America. #1 for the first time ever,” Raffensperger said.
“People said that the machines were flipping votes, so what I said was let’s go ahead and recount the presidential race. All five million ballots, lets recount all of them by hand. What we showed is the count was accurate,” he said.
Another thing Raffensperger brought up was something you might not expect lots of voters chose not to vote for anyone at all for president in 2020.
—–> He says nearly 30,000 people who voted that year chose to skip the presidential part of the ballot, even though they filled out the other parts.
“Yet they voted down ballot for the sheriff, county commissioner, state rep, congress other races like that. The republican congressman got 33,000 more votes that President Trump and that’s why he came up short,” Raffensperger said.

—–> “We have done a 100% scrub of the entire voter rolls. All 7.5 million people. We identified about 1,600 people that appear that could be non-citizens. Now we’re going to do a deep-dive and do some one-on-one interviews.”

Elements of Georgia’s new election law were also brought to the podium. Changes that have a particular impact on absentee voting.
“How can you argue with the photo that’s on your drivers’ license,” he continued. “We actually increased early voting. From 16 days to 17 days at every county now,” Raffensperger said. “No electioneering, no politicking in the 150 foot [zone]. No water, no food, no talking to folks.”
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Refugees before Americans in Georgia? Dustin Inman Society board member Inger Eberhart pushes for a vote on Rep Wes Cantrell’s HB 932

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Inger Eberhart

 

Update: HB 932 was denied a vote in the House Higher Ed committee and is dead for the year. It is possible for a Kamikaze legislator to try to attach it to a live bill.

“Many Georgians – including here at our house, want to see how many Republican votes HB 932 would get in the full House”

A version of the below essay originally posted on the subscription website Insider Advantage , Feb 28, 2022

Vote on HB 932 putting refugees ahead of Americans

by Inger Eberhart

Many thanks to Insider Advantage for the excellent, detailed coverage of last year’s House Special Committee on ‘Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent’ from D.A. King. With Rep Wes Cantrell as chairman, one of the bills created from those one-sided committee hearings, HB 932, is now pending in the House committee system at the state Capitol. Pro-enforcement, conservative voters should pay attention to it and watch to see if Higher Education committee Chairman Chuck Martin allows a vote.

Rep Chuck Martin.

In the interest of shining a light on “who’s who” in the Republican House caucus, I write urging Chairman Martin to hold a vote on that Rep Wes Cantrell-sponsored measure as soon as possible. As a proud conservative voter, I also urge the House Rules committee to pass HB 932 out to the floor for maximum exposure on recorded votes.

HB 932 comes from the partnership between business and the massive, fast-growing refugee resettlement industry here in Georgia, largely led by Darlene Lynch. It’s called “BIG.” and is well worth reader’s time to explore. Lynch organized and supervised the special committee that produced the bill. Cantrell was the sponsor of the Resolution that created that committee. The Resolution passed unanimously in the House last year.

Darlene C. Lynch of “BIG’. Photo, Dustin Inman Society

Lynch also apparently organized the fourteen or so mostly foreign-born leftists who testified in favor of HB 932 passing out of the House Higher Education Committee last Wednesday. Armed with this knowledge, curious readers may want to also see the Georgia Chamber’s page on its “Global Talent Initiative” to get a larger view of the vast network aimed at expanding cheaper, foreign labor in Georgia.

For a close up exposure to the liberal logic used to justify putting refugees over Americans in Georgia, an easy-to-read transcript and a link to the video of the Higher Ed committee hearing is available on the Dustin Inman Society website.

Along with his cosponsors, Cantrell has put language into HB 932 pushed by the above-mentioned Darlene Lynch & Co. that changes the state law on residence- waiting periods for people who move to Georgia regarding instate tuition in our taxpayer-funded colleges. Currently all new residents must live here for a year to be eligible for the much lower instate college tuition rate.

Related: For academic year 2020-2021, the average tuition & fees for Colleges in Georgia is $4,739 for in-state and $17,008 for out-of-state.

Lynch and Cantrell are pushing for that waiting period to be eliminated for refugees, some Afghan citizens and immigrants who say they helped the U.S. in their home nations. The change would not affect Americans who move here from any other state. They would still have to wait a year to access the lower tuition rate.

Rep Wes Cantrell, Republican, Woodstock

Democrats are pushing the bill as “pro-immigrant” and at least some Republicans go out of their way to praise Cantrell and the bill.

In the recent hearing on HB 932 several Democrats vocalized their enthusiastic support for making Americans pay three times more public college tuition than an Afghan refugee in Georgia.  Macon Republican Rep Dale Washburn joined in and was effusive in his admiration for the legislation with

“uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanna make the praise for this bill bipartisan. Uh, uh, thank you for bringing it. It’s an excellent bill, and certainly in my mind, it is the right thing to do for these people. And the added benefit is, is not only the right thing, it’s a good thing for Georgia and it makes sense in many ways.”

Macon Rep Dale Washburn (R).

“Yeah. Well, it’s an excellent bill and uh, I hope we get a chance to vote yes on it, uh, soon.”

The liberal AJC reported on HB 932 but omitted the fact that Americans would not get the same financial break given to the foreigners.

Speaker Pro-Tem Jan Jones was originally a cosponsor on HB 932 until she removed her name from the bill after it gathered some attention created by the Dustin Inman Society.

While young Americans of all descriptions struggle to pay down student college debt and Georgia citizens watch inflation decimate their budgets, new refugees are supported largely by our tax dollars. Many Georgians – including here at our house – want to see how many Republican votes HB 932 would get in the full House.

So, I repeat my plea to House Higher Education Chairman Chuck Martin: from a Black conservative Georgia voter; Please grant Rep Dale Washburn’s wish and hold a committee vote on HB 932 as soon as possible.

We need more insight on “who’s who.”

Inger Eberhart is a board member and Communications Director, the Dustin Inman Society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illegal immigration in Georgia & SB 448 – perhaps the most, um… ‘incomplete’ bill for 2022 in the Georgia state senate #ButchMiller

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Sen. Butch Miller, SB 448 sponsor. Photo: Ga General Assembly

We like the concept! But SB 448 looks like a campaign bill to me. While it calls for a “citizenship status” check to determine if a “detained” and/or arrested individual is “lawfully present” in this country, it doesn’t go any further in explaining exactly how the law enforcement officer would go about that status check. Not even by saying the documents on the subject’s person should be used. I struggle not to type “poorly written.” Oops.

Maybe the sponsors could refer to this? See also 8 USC 1304

We again feel compelled to remind all concerned that “lawfully present” is a term that is not defined by congress in the INA.

The 11th circuit court of appeals of appeals weighed in on that in 2019.

But…what, exactly does the LEO do with the information if it looks like the subject is an illegal alien? Maybe nothing?

And why would we watch as yet another law like this is even discussed when OCGA 42-4-14 is ignored? 

Progress would be to actually add a written penalty to OCGA 42-4-14.

___

“SB 448  ( LC 28 0368 )

Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies; peace officer in this state who lawfully arrests an individual with or without a warrant or as the result of a traffic stop shall check such individual’s citizenship status; provide”

“First Reader Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding law enforcement officers and agencies, so as to provide that each peace officer in this state who lawfully arrests or detains an individual with or without a warrant or as the result of a traffic stop shall check such individual’s citizenship status to determine if such individual is lawfully present in this country; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
“BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:  
SECTION 1.  
Chapter 1 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding law enforcement officers and agencies, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:  
  
“35-1-24.  
Each peace officer, as such term is defined in Code Section 35-8-2, in this state who  
lawfully arrests or detains an individual with or without a warrant or as the result of a  
traffic stop shall check such individual’s citizenship status to determine if such individual  
is lawfully present in this country.“

Sponsors

No.Number in list Name District
1. Miller, Butch 49th
2. Mullis, Jeff 53rd
3. Gooch, Steve 51st
4. McNeill, Sheila 3rd
5. Payne, Chuck 54th
6. Hickman, Billy 4th
7. Burns, Max 23rd

GEORGIA IMMIGRATION-RELATED LEGISLATION, 2022

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–> Update: January 31, 2022 Breitbart has pick up the story on the below bills and our work here in Georgia. We hope you read it!

Update: August 28, 2022 This will be an issue next session, say the corporate-funded lobbyists, here.

GEORGIA IMMIGRATION-RELATED LEGISLATION, 2022

* Added April 7, 2022: We stopped a committee hearing and a floor vote on this gem:

SR 376

Cause of death? It’s an election year and we know too much.

SR 376 was designed to create a special senate “study committee” to begin the process of creating legislation for next year to “relax” current state laws on verifying legal immigration status before issuing occupational and professional licenses. It came from the same people and had the same agenda as this Dog and Pony show in the House from last year.

Senate Resolution 376
By: Senators Thompson of the 14th, Brass of the 28th, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd, Cowsert of the 46th, Summers of the 13th and others

A RESOLUTION

Creating the Senate Occupational Licensing Study Committee; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, the Georgia General Assembly strives to foster a robust workforce and thriving business environment in this state; and

WHEREAS, onerous occupational licensing requirements can inhibit economic mobility,  limit job prospects, and hinder small businesses; and  WHEREAS, research has shown that Georgia has some of the country’s most burdensome  occupational licensing laws; and

WHEREAS, it is in the state’s best interests to examine its current occupational licensing  laws and requirements to determine if they should be modified or restructured so as to  encourage, promote, and foster employment and healthy business growth in this state; an

WHEREAS, it is important to review how other states have responsibly reformed  occupational licensing to streamline processes, reduce barriers to work, and eliminate  unnecessary rules and regulations to determine if Georgia could benefit from similar reforms.

SB 601

Update: Noon, March 16, 2022: SB 601 failed to see final passage on the senate floor yesterday by a vote of 20-29. It’s dead. More here.

Essentially a rerun of HB 999/HB 60. This one has incomplete and unworkable language intended to present the idea that it excludes illegal aliens. This legislation was dropped on Thursday, March 3 assigned a committee on Friday March 4 and scheduled to be heard in committee Monday, March 7 at 8:00 AM.

Breitbart story here.

The bill was not heard on Monday, but was passed out in a one-hour, 9:00 AM meeting on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 with a 6-4 vote. No public comment was allowed. Much more here.

The Dustin Inman Society opposes SB 601

HB 60   FEB 23, 2020 – Happy dance! HB 60 is as dead as Pancho Villa.  Very close to HB 999 below, also from Rep. Wes Cantrell. 

HB 999  FEB 23, 2020 – Happy dance! HB 999 is as dead as Pancho Villa. 

HB 999 would create a state funded alternative K-12 school system for all student who have spent six weeks in a public school and have a parent, guardian or custodian living in Georgia. A new “Promise Scholarship” payment of $6000 per school year would be sent from state coffers directly to an account set up for the student. Parents/guardians/custodians would be in charge of distributing the funds. A committee made up of parents would be appointed to oversee compliance with the state’s scholarship laws. The bill is being sold as “school choice” and is gaining support. Radio personality Erick Erickson is pitching it on his national radio show. Nothing in the language of the legislation as presented mentions or deals with the fact that Georgia’s public schools are packed with illegal aliens who also have illegal alien parents. The scenario if passed as introduced would be that the state of Georgia sends money directly to the account of an illegal aliens child, an illegal alien parent has authority to disburse those funds and could easily be appointed to be a member of the oversight committee.Read more here.

K-12 private school scholarship should be limited to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents HB 999 HB 60.    Here is the fix 

The Dustin Inman Society opposes HB 999.

 * HB 120 Update: March 16, 2022: HB 120 is deceased. – would give illegal alien college students living in Georgia with a deferral on deportation in Obama’s DACA program the much lower instate tuition rate in the state’s university system. Americans and legal immigrants from other states who attend the same schools are not eligible for that lower rate.

  • Related: For academic year 2020-2021, the average tuition & fees for colleges in Georgia was $4,739 for instate and $17,008 for out-of-state according to experts at collegetuition.com.

Last year a federal judge ruled the DACA program to be unlawful. The 11th circuit appellate court ruled in 2019 that illegal aliens with DACA are still illegal aliens. They do not have legal status and are removable at any time. The Georgia Attorney General’s office takes a similar position. There are about 20K DACA recipients in GA.

Republican Rep. Kasey Carpenter introduced HB 120 in 2021. It puts DACA illegal aliens in front of Americans and legal immigrants. We regard that as un-American. The instate tuition for illegals concept is publicly pushed by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce because it would lower wages for Americans and raise corporate profits.

The Dustin Inman Society opposes HB120.

* HB 932  Update: HB 932 was denied a vote in the House Higher Ed committee and is dead for the year. It is possible for a Kamikaze legislator to try to attach it to a live bill. We hope so. That would be fun…

would allow refugees, foreigners here on Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) and Afghans on “humanitarian parole” to be excluded from the current state law and BOR policy that says newly arrived college students must be GA residents for 12 months before they can access the much lower instate tuition rate in Georgia’s public colleges and tech schools. (The Special Immigrant Visa grants permanent residence to foreign nationals who claim to have helped the U.S. government abroad).

HB 932 does not cover Americans and immigrants outside the above description who move to Georgia from other states– they would still be required to pay the higher tuition rate for public colleges/tech schools for the first year of their residence. HB 932 is sponsored by Republican Rep Wes Cantrell and has Democrat cosponsors. We regard HB 932 as un-American.

The Dustin Inman Society opposes HB 932.

 * HB 228  HB 228 is dead for the year. The GOP Establishment killed it. (Republican Rep Charlice Byrd) addresses the fact that Georgia issues drivers licenses and ID Cards to foreigners but has no law that excludes these credentials from acceptance as “proper identification” for voting purposes. The bill fixes that loophole and adds the wording “BEARER NOT U.S. CITIZEN-NOT VOTER ID” to the front of the non-citizen drivers licenses and ID Cards. It also requires DDS to change the first two characters of the serial number of these credentials to “NC” to reflect non-U.S. citizen status for mail-in vote security. We regard this bill to be a commonsense fix to a needless gap in election integrity.

The Dustin Inman supports HB 228.

 More information is easily accessed at ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com and NewDustinInmanSociety.org.        

 

Rep Charlice Byrd’s October, 2021 guest column in Insider Advantage Georgia HB 228

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Motor Voter cartoon OCRegister

The below guest column is posted from the subscription news outlet Insider Advantage Georgia. I added a few links and photos to further educate readers.

Secure Non-Citizens’ ID Now– Before New Elections

by  | Oct 26, 2021 | The Forum |

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State Rep. Charlice Byrd
As a Georgia legislator, there is one topic that continues to be on the minds of voters from my district and across the state – election integrity. Despite having adopted some election changes in the state earlier this year, there is still an uneasiness about whether we can have a secure election in 2022 and beyond.
With tens of thousands of illegal aliens crossing our southern border daily and others overstaying their visas and the federal government failing to uphold the rule of law, it is up to states to protect their citizens and secure their elections.

Many Georgians may be shocked to learn that our state issues a driver’s license and official identification to foreign nationals nearly identical to what our citizens obtain and use when they exercise their right to vote. The only difference is non-citizens’ cards are stamped with the words “LIMITED TERM” at the top.

Georgia’s LIMITED TERM driver’s license.
After the 2020 election debacle, it’s even more alarming that we don’t have a specific state law that outlaws the use of these non-citizen licenses or ID cards from being used as proper identification for voting purposes.
This loophole in election security should be closed without delay because we don’t know how many poll workers are accepting these forms of identification. That’s why I have introduced House Bill 228 with a long list of co-sponsors in the Georgia House. It needs to be voted into law before the 2022 elections.
HB 228 was the target of a great deal of false testimony during its sole hearing earlier this year. It would forbid the acceptance of such licenses and ID cards issued to non-citizens for voting purposes.
Wouldn’t you think this would be a no-brainer? Our Constitution says only US citizens have the right to vote. But there are special interests that once again want to leave that door open.
My legislation would also require the state Department of Drivers Services to add language “BEARER NOT U.S. CITIZEN – NOT VOTER ID” to all licenses and ID cards issued to non-citizens. This would remove any possibility or confusion of acceptance in the voting process in future elections.
To address mail-in voting issues, the DDS would be required to change the numbering system of these licenses and IDs so the first two characters begin with NC for “non-citizen.”
Georgians should know that Rep. Bee Nguyen of Gwinnett County – a candidate for Secretary of State– has introduced a bill to give all illegal immigrants in Georgia a driver’s card and a state ID card. Obviously, she is paving the way for them to vote. That’s something we cannot have and our founders did not intend.
My legislation is simple, common-sense solution to add a degree of security to Georgia’s voting process while alleviating any potential confusion for poll workers and election volunteers.
As we learned with the mail-in ballot crisis last year, it’s always better to have loopholes closed and security in place before an election disaster then trying to mend a crisis once an election is in disarray. This could be one of those preventive steps.
Without election integrity, our nation will have no confidence in our government. Our nation will crumble. We are at a crossroads after the 2020 election, and it is time to do all we can to insure that only those who are legally able to vote cast their ballots. The future of our nation depends upon it.
Byrd is a Republican state representative from Woodstock. She represents District 20 in the Georgia House.

By request: dak’s famous Georgia pimento cheese (run faster, jump higher!)

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Posted here because I can

Don King’s famous Georgia pimento cheese (run faster, jump higher!)

PIMENTO CHEESE 

1)  brick Kraft Cracker Barrel Aged Reserve Cheddar Cheese (White)

2)  bricks Kraft EXTRA SHARP yellow Cheddar Cheese

2)  7 oz. jars Lindsay DICED pimentos (sometimes I add part of a 3rd jar or a entire smaller jar of sliced pimentos…)

1 8 oz. jar, Duke’s mayo (Hellman’s if no access to Duke’s)

Ground red pepper (cayenne)

Into a large (preferably flat-bottomed) container (I use a 1984 Tupperware cake holder) grate half the cheese on a course grater, the other half on medium. Mix together and shake some cayenne (you canned more later) and a little fresh-ground black pepper. Keep mixing.

NOTE Do NOT grate cheese too fine or you will get mush. We are making a semi lumpy spread, not a dip.

Drain pimentos and add to grated cheese, mixing well – then add some more shakes of cayenne and mix again. It’s obviously personal taste but finished product should NOT be extremely spicy hot, just a nice gentle bite and flavor addition to the cheese.

Add about 3/4 8 oz. jar of mayo and mix well – push mixture against side of bowl with a large fork with enough pressure to push some moisture out of pimentos and to insure there is zero un-mayo-ed cheese. Then add most of the remainder of mayo. Don’t use too much – it will be too thin.

Like many foods, this seems to get better in the fridge overnight and we have used it well into the second week after prep. But it usually doesn’t last that long.

Note # 2: While everyone has their own fave sharp cheddar, there are severe penalties for using mayo other than Duke’s (or Hellman’s if necessary) – or adding anything other than the above five-ish basic ingredients (well, except for de-seeded, diced jalapeños sometimes). Even more severe for adding garlic or onion. We are watching!

Enjoy! Try mixing it with the filling ½ & ½ in your deviled eggs or spread on fresh, split banana peppers as well as the obvious crackers and the famous pimento cheese sandwich.

Recipe adapted from one we saw in an 80’s (?) edition of Gourmet magazine.

D.A. King

Georgia

Amended, Nov. 2021

Mayo added and smushed.

Ta-da.

 

Fast Fact: Human smuggling, forced labor among allegations in south Georgia federal indictment

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David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, speaks during a news conference Nov. 22, 2021, to announce indictments in USA v. Patricio et al, Operation Blooming Onion, a human trafficking investigation naming 24 defendants on felony charges including human smuggling and document fraud.

United States Attorney’s Office

Media release

Nov 22, 2021

Recently unsealed indictment targets 24 defendants for human trafficking

 

INDICTMENT: USA v. Patricio et al, Operation Blooming Onion: 521cr9.pdf

WAYCROSS, GA:  Two dozen defendants have been indicted on federal conspiracy charges after a transnational, multi-year investigation into a human smuggling and labor trafficking operation that illegally imported Mexican and Central American workers into brutal conditions on South Georgia farms.

The newly unsealed, 54-count indictment in USA v. Patricio et al. details felony charges resulting from Operation Blooming Onion, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. The multi-agency investigation, led by Homeland Security Investigations and other federal agencies, spans at least three years, and the 53-page indictment documents dozens of victims of modern-day slavery while spelling out the illegal acts that brought these exploited workers into the United States and imprisoned them under inhumane conditions as contract agricultural laborers, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

“The American dream is a powerful attraction for destitute and desperate people across the globe, and where there is need, there is greed from those who will attempt to exploit these willing workers for their own obscene profits,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes. “Thanks to outstanding work from our law enforcement partners, Operation Blooming Onion frees more than 100 individuals from the shackles of modern-day slavery and will hold accountable those who put them in chains.”

“OCDETF Operation Blooming Onion maximized the expertise of multiple law enforcement agencies and leveraged analytical and coordination support from OCDETF’s International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2) to target an international criminal organization engaged in human trafficking and visa fraud,” said OCDETF Director Adam W. Cohen. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s leadership of this multi-agency law enforcement effort positions us to disrupt and dismantle the operations of transnational criminal networks that pose the greatest threat to our communities and to the Nation.”

As described in the indictment, investigators from Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the FBI began investigating the Patricio transnational criminal organization in November 2018. The indictment alleges that in or before 2015, the conspirators and their associates “engaged in mail fraud, international forced labor trafficking, and money laundering, among other crimes,” fraudulently using the H-2A work visa program to smuggle foreign nationals from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras into the United States under the pretext of serving as agricultural workers.

The activities took place within the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Georgia; the Middle District of Florida; the Southern District of Texas; and Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and elsewhere. The conspirators required the workers to pay unlawful fees for transportation, food, and housing while illegally withholding their travel and identification documents, and subjected the workers “to perform physically demanding work for little or no pay, housing them in crowded, unsanitary, and degrading living conditions, and by threatening them with deportation and violence.”

Exploitation of the workers included being required to dig onions with their bare hands, paid 20 cents for each bucket harvested, and threatened with guns and violence to keep them in line. The workers were held in cramped, unsanitary quarters and fenced work camps with little or no food, limited plumbing and without safe water. The conspirators are accused of raping, kidnapping and threatening or attempting to kill some of the workers or their families, and in many cases sold or traded the workers to other conspirators. At least two of the workers died as a result of workplace conditions. In the Southern District of Georgia, these activities were alleged to have taken place in the counties of Atkinson, Bacon, Coffee, Tattnall, Toombs and Ware as farmers paid the conspirators to provide contract laborers.

The conspirators are alleged to have reaped more than $200 million from the illegal scheme, laundering the funds through cash purchases of land, homes, vehicles, and businesses; through cash purchases of cashier’s checks; and by funneling millions of dollars through a casino.

Then, as the continuing investigation into the conspiracy moved forward in late 2019, the indictment alleges that three of the conspirators attempted to intimidate and persuade a witness to lie to a federal grand jury and deny any knowledge of the illegal activities of the Patricio organization.

More than 200 law enforcement officers and federal agents from around the United States convened in the Southern District of Georgia to execute more than 20 federal search warrants at target locations.

Those indicted in USA v. Patricio et al. and their charges include:

  • Maria Leticia Patricio, 70, of Nichols, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; two counts of Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Daniel Mendoza, 40, of Ruskin, Fla., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Nery Rene Carrillo-Najarro, 56, Douglas, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; 14 counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Antonio Chavez Ramos, a/k/a “Tony Chavez,” 38, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; four counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • JC Longoria Castro, 46, Vidalia, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; four counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Victoria Chavez Hernandez, 38, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Enrique Duque Tovar, 36, of Axon, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; nine counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Jose Carmen Duque Tovar, 58, of Axon, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; nine counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Charles Michael King, 31, of Waycross, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Stanley Neal McGauley, 38, of Waycross, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Luis Alberto Martinez, a/k/a “Chino Martinez,” 41, of Tifton, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Delia Ibarra Rojas, 33, of Lyons, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Juana Ibarra Carrillo, 46, of Alma, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Donna Michelle Rojas, a/k/a “Donna Lucio,” 33, of Collins, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Margarita Rojas Cardenas, a/k/a “Maggie Cardenas,” 43, of Reidsville, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and Tampering with a Witness;
  • Juan Fransisco Alvarez Campos, 42, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Rosalvo Garcia Martinez, a/k/a “Chava Garcia,” 33, of Haines City, Fla., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and Tampering with a Witness;
  • Esther Ibarra Garcia, 63, of Dade City, Fla., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Rodolfo Martinez Maciel, 26, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Brett Donavan Bussey, 39, of Tifton, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; four counts of Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and Tampering with a Witness;
  • Linda Jean Facundo, 36, of Tifton, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Gumara Canela, 34, of Alma, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; 14 counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
  • Daniel Merari Canela Diaz, 24, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and,
  • Carla Yvonne Salinas, 28, of Laredo, Texas, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.

The charges of Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor, and Forced Labor, each carry statutory penalties of up to life in prison, while the charges of Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, Mail Fraud, Money Laundering Conspiracy, and Tampering with a Witness each carry statutory penalties of up to 20 years in prison. Each of the charges also include substantial financial penalties and periods of supervised release after completion of any prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Operation Blooming Onion also is designated as a Priority Transnational Organized Crime Cases.

Agencies investigating Operation Blooming Onion include Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Fraud Detection and National Security; the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and Wage and Hour Division; U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the FBI; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and the U.S. Marshals Service, with assistance from the Georgia National Guard; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Georgia State Patrol; the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office; the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office; the Tattnall County Sheriff’s Office; the Bacon County Sheriff’s Office; and the Tift County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney and Human Trafficking Coordinator Tania D. Groover, and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Criminal Division Deputy Chief E. Greg Gilluly Jr., and Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier A. Cunningham, Section Chief of the Asset Recovery Unit.

If you believe you have information about a potential trafficking situation call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Anti-Trafficking Hotline Advocates are available 24/7 to take reports of potential human trafficking. All reports are confidential and you may remain anonymous. Interpreters are available.  The information you provide will be reviewed by the National Hotline and forwarded to specialized law enforcement and/or service providers where appropriate.

Here.

 

Anti-enforcement immigration activist announces run for Georgia state senate #JasonEsteves #GALEO

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Update: Feb 10, 2023. Esteves is now a state senator in Georgia.

Jason Esteves immediate past Chairman of GALEO board

 Add this name to the long watch list in Georgia’s increasingly turbulent political scene. Jason Esteves, former Chair and a current “board member at large” of the far-left, corporate-funded GALEO Inc. has launched his campaign for the state senate. Esteves is currently the Atlanta School Board president.

Jason Esteves. Photo: Ballotopedia

Current state Sen. Jen Jordan is leaving her Senate district to run for state attorney general. Esteves seeks to replace her in the east Cobb/Fulton County District 6.

Readers may remember that another GALEO board member, then State Court Judge Dax Lopez, saw his Obama nomination for a seat on the U.S. District Court in Georgia’s Northern District sink in early 2016 as a direct result of his ties to the extremist outfit. Now candidate for governor and then U.S. Senator and Judiciary Committee member David Perdue bravely nixed the confirmation in the face of the establishment push for Republican Lopez’ approval.

There was massive opposition to the Lopez pick from conservative elected officials and howls from the GOP grassroots.

GALEO is known for advancing the cause of driver’s licenses for illegal aliens and lobbying against immigration enforcement, voter ID, official English for government and ICE holds. But they do support immigration amnesty. While smearing law enforcement officers, GALEO leadership joined the ACLU and the SPLC in a lawsuit against Georgia’ 2011 (HB 87) ‘Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act.’

Full disclosure: Including with our “Beginner’s Guide to GALEO,” the Dustin Inman Society of which this writer is president and founder led the fight against putting a GALEO board member and fundraiser on the federal bench.

Related: History and agenda of the above mentioned MALDEF

 

GALEO’s CEO Jerry Gonzalez brought focus to the group after he escorted illegal aliens into the state senate chamber to lobby against a 2006 bill (SB 529) targeting illegal immigration. In 2011 the Rome Tribune reported that security officials had escorted an angry Gonzalez from Coosa Country Club after he screamed at diminutive state Rep. Katie Dempsey at a lunch meeting focused on use of the E-Verify system for employment eligibility verification.

Voters may want to gauge judgment and priorities by noting that their reputation did not stop senate candidate Jason Esteves from later joining the GALEO board.

Esteves is also chairman of GALEO’s innocuously named but well funded ‘Latino Development Fund,’ which is dedicated to training future community organizers to follow up on the path set by Gonzalez.

GALEO boasts of its partnership with UGA’s J.W. Fanning Institute in this education. See also the ‘GALEO Leadership Council’ – “develop your leadership skills and support the Latinx community in Georgia.”

Sam Zamarripa, who went on to become a state senator known for opposition to immigration enforcement founded GALEO in 2003. Jane Fonda is but one American luminary on the long (and perhaps surprising, to many) list of “Founding Friends’ (#32).

*Update, Dec 17, 2021. Related: GALEO CEO Jerry Gonzalez wrote a guest column posted Dec. 15 on the liberal Georgia Recorder website urging the U.S. Senate to pass the amnesty provisions in the Democrat “Build Back Better” bill and to use that as a “stepping stone” to “passing citizenship for all.” That’s right. All. Everybody. Including the illegal aliens flooding the southern border right now. And tomorrow. And next year. It’s open borders. Read Jerry’s words here. We happily note that the Senate parliamentarian killed the amnesty provision in the ‘BBB’ bill last night. 

Sam Zamarripa. Photo: The Daily Caller

“I’m running for state senate to fight for a brighter future,” says Esteves who serves as Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “In his first year (as Atlanta School Board Chair – 2018), the Board adopted an Equity Policy and Anti-Racism Resolution that eventually led to the creation of the Center for Equity and Social Justice. He oversaw the process of renaming buildings with hurtful legacies,” reads his campaign site. 

We may have lost count, but it appears that if he were to be elected, it would make at least three GALEO-associated state senators. Esteves would join former GALEO board member and Founding Friend Jason Anavitarte and Founding Friend Nan Orrock in the Georgia senate.

D.A. King is proprietor of ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com and president of the Dustin Inman Society.

A version of this column originally ran on the subscription news outlet Insider Advantage Georgia December 10, 2021.