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Republican state Rep Wes Cantrell to introduce bill to remove one-year wait for refugees to access instate tuition *Updated – Jan Jones cosponsor #AmericansLast #KaseyCarpenter

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Photo: Axios

 

The below from an email forwarded here from a concerned reader who follows a leftist, open borders agency here called Coalition of Refugee Service Industries (CRSA).

The immediate take-away is that the newly arrived refugees and SIV holders would be put ahead of Americans and legal immigrants who live in other states in the line for lower tuition rates. If the goal is for increased levels of Dem-voting refugees in Georgia, this is a good way to get there.

  • Rep Kasey Carpenter is also a cosponsor.

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.

–> Update, Jan 25, 2022 12:30 PM: I learned from a friend and Jones’ constituent and confirmed at the House Clerk’s office yesterday that House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones scratched her name off of HB932 on Jan 19 – five days after we started the information campaign. Photos of records obtained at House Clerk’s office here.

–>*Update, Jan 15, 10:30 PM: Rep Cantrell’s bill (HB 932) is now online. Along with at least two Democrats and some of the usual liberal/Georgia Chamber of Commerce GOP suspects, the Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Rep Jan Jones is a cosponsor. These politicians want to change state law so that refugees and Afghans who move to Georgia don’t have to endure the current one-year residency wait to access instate tuition rates.

GA House Speaker ProTem Jan Jones. Photo: Ga General Assembly.

Americans and legal immigrants who move here are not affected by the legislation – your U.S. citizen cousin who moves here from Ohio or Arizona or any other state would still be required to pay the out of state tuition rate for a year. This is a product of the GA Chamber-organized sham House special committee hearings I followed last Summer & Fall. I wrote about them here.

If you are short on time, just read #4.

For those who are scratching their heads trying to noodle this out: This is a Georgia Chamber of Commerce-ordered measure to speed up and increase the supply of college-educated workers. That reduces wages and produces higher profits. Then they howl for even more unskilled labor through higher immigration numbers.

Update to the above update, Jan 17, 12:45 PM: We have heard some doubts about the statement that Speaker Pro Tem Rep Jan Jones is a cosigner on Rep Cantrell’s HB 932. I post a screenshot done about five minutes ago from the General Assembly on the bottom of this post to reflect my source. Accuracy is paramount here. – dak

Related: The inside story on immigration related legislation under the Gold Dome here.

 

 

 

 

______________________

Original email: Rep. Wes Cantrell to Sponsor Instant Access To In-State Tuition Bill for Georgia Refugees and SIV Holders

Rep Wes Cantrell Republican, Woodstock.

Rep. Wes Cantrell (R-Woodstock), a supporter of CRSA and chair of the House Study Committee on Global Talent, will be sponsoring a bill to extend in-state tuition benefits to Georgia refugees immediately upon their resettlement in the state. The bill would also apply to special immigrant visa (SIV) holders who supported the U.S. military overseas and Afghan allies evacuated after the Taliban takeover and granted humanitarian parole by the U.S.

Under current law, these individuals must wait one-year to establish residency to access in-state tuition.

———

 

 

Republican candidate for Lt. Gov: DACA illegal aliens in GA should pay less college tuition than U.S. citizens and legal immigrants from other states #HB120 #ButchMiller

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Sen. Butch Miller. Photo: GA General Assembly

State Senator quoted in hometown newspaper as supporting special (instate) tuition for DACA recipients

Candidate for Lt. Governor and current President Pro Tem of the state senate, Sen. Butch Miller Miller, has come out in support of giving the illegal aliens with DACA a lower tuition rate in public colleges than U.S. citizens and legal immigrants from other states.

Thanks to a Twitter post from an elated  former GALEO staffer and illegal alien DACA recipient, Jaime Rangel, who lobbies for FWD.us under the Gold Dome (yes, really) we see a January 7 report from the liberal Gainesville Times with that policy nugget.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce is also pushing hard for that action.

Boiled down for those new to the issue, there are about twenty thousand illegal aliens living in Georgia with a deferral on deportation proceedings because they came to the U.S. as “children.” That number could soon zoom up because of Biden’s “ya’ll come!” policy on our southern border.

Currently the University System of Georgia (and the Technical College System of Georgia – TCSG) offers essentially two levels of tuition rates – instate and out of state. 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. It’s pretty simple: Georgia residents pay less to attend Georgia’s public universities and Tech colleges than a student from Michigan or Arizona, for example.

 

Illegal alien DACA recipients rally for “equity.” Photo, 2021 Twitter.

The news of Miller’s support comes in the Gainesville Times report “5 issues to watch to watch from Hall County legislators in 2022 session.”

Education:

State and local educators say they are pushing for traditional issues, such as fully funding schools and more transparency in voucher funding.

In past tight budget years, austerity cuts from education have been used to help balance budgets.

Also, Williams supports bipartisan legislation proposed last session that would offer in-state tuition to those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status.

“They graduated from Gainesville High school, they’ve been here X number of years and what we’re doing is we’re basically losing a potential workforce,” he said.

Miller is also is a proponent of easing that restriction.”If we want these young people to be productive members of our society and contribute, then we’re going to have to educate them and not put them at a disadvantage,” he said.”

We should note that DACA is temporary scam and an illegal Obama administrative reelection end run around congress that a federal judge has found to be unlawful – and DACA recipients already have work permits. DACA status does not provide any legal status or lawful presence. We’ll have much more soon.

The entire Gainesville Times news piece is here.

Contact information for Sen. Miller here.

Related: HB 120 from Republican Kasey Carpenter (Dalton) is pending under the Gold Dome and is the legislative vehicle the corporate-funded anti-enforcement lobby (including the Georgia Chamber of Commerce) is pushing to get special tuition rates for the illegal aliens discussed above. You can read more on that here.

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Screenshot, Jaime Rangel Twitter feed.

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.

Looking For A Better Life: Armed Illegal Aliens Caught Trying to Sneak Across the Border

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Image: Liberty Headlines

SanAngeloLive.com

January 4, 2022

EDINBURG, TX – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted three human smuggling attempts last week that led to arrest of 20 individuals

On Dec. 28, McAllen Border Patrol Station (MCS) agents observed multiple people emerge from a nearby field near the Rio Grande and run towards an awaiting Dodge Durango. As agents approached the vehicle, the suspected illegal immigrants quickly exited the vehicle and ran back into the field as the driver sped off. Agents searched the area and apprehended nine subjects who were illegally present in the United States. The driver and a passenger were later arrested by Border Patrol.

After interviewing the driver and passenger, agents determined they were both nationals from Mexico illegally present in the country. They were placed under arrest.

Jan. 2, agents working at the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint referred a vehicle to the secondary inspection area for further inspection. During questioning, agents determined one of the passengers was illegally present in the United States. All subjects were placed under arrest and escorted into the checkpoint for processing. – more here.

 

Wanted: Free flight to U.S. from Haiti

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United States Border Patrol agents on horseback try to stop Haitian migrants from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande.
AFP via Getty Images / Paul Ratje

Nefarious border goal: Motive behind ‘whip hoax’ suit

New York Post – Dec 27, 2021

Mark Krikorian

Haitian illegal immigrants involved in this fall’s Border Patrol “whipping” hoax in Del Rio, Texas, are suing the Biden administration, with the help of anti-borders groups. If all goes according to plan, all three of these parties — the illegal immigrants, the administration and the anti-borders groups — will win.

It’s clear what the former illegal immigrants themselves — now back in Haiti — want: a free flight to the United States so they can apply for asylum. As a practical matter, that would mean they’d be able to live here forever, whatever the eventual outcome of their asylum cases.

The Biden administration likewise has a clear agenda. It has shown over the past year a bedrock belief in the principle of unlimited immigration and only resorted to deporting a small share of the Haitians under that bridge in Texas because it feared the political fallout of the news pictures. So it’s unlikely to put up much of a defense in this case, and if it were to “lose,” it would be able to shift responsibility for the inevitable surge in Haitian arrivals by saying its hands were tied by the courts.

But the motives of the third set of actors in this game — the nonprofit legal groups actually filing the lawsuit — are a mix of profit and policy. The overriding goal, of course, is to open the borders. The lead anti-borders group involved, the Innovation Law Lab, actually sells shirts with images titled “Migration Is Sacred” and “Unbuild The Wall.”

Cost of doing business

Another, the Justice Action Center, includes on its board an activist who describes herself on Twitter as an “Abolitionist” — i.e., for abolishing immigration controls. The group was founded by longtime anti-borders crusader Karen Tumlin, who led the successful lawfare campaign against Arizona’s modest attempt during the Obama administration to deter illegal immigration.

That’s why the lawsuit is demanding a variety of orders from the court, the net effect of which would be to open the borders to any and all Haitians who want to move here. That the Haitians weren’t whipped, and the Border Patrol agents were simply holding reins of horses to prevent them from illegally crossing the border? That doesn’t matter — one photograph is worth completely upending our immigration policies…, More here.

 

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.

 

Mass Migration Through Panama’s Darien Gap Destroying an Indigenous Tribe – and Human Rights Organizations Don’t Care

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Mayor Francisco Agapi, a leader of the Embera Tribe inhabiting the jungled Darien Gap wilderness, on a mass-migration path between Panama and Colombia, speaks publicly about his tribe’s plight for the first time at a December 7 Center for Immigration Studies panel. Agapi’s mother created the decorative mask at right. Photo: CIS

‘There are no organizations that are fighting for our human rights’

By Todd Bensman on December 13, 2021

WASHINGTON, DC – The leader of the Embera Tribe left his jungle homeland in Panama’s Darien Gap and came to the nation’s capital last week with an SOS message to the American people: a record-setting mass migration through his reservation, spurred by President Joe Biden as soon as he entered office this year, is destroying the tribe’s traditional ways of life at a pace beyond living memory and corrupting its people to an entirely unacknowledged extent

Mayor Francisco Agapi, who heads 29 villages in and around the isolated Embera tribal capital of Bajo Chaquito, spoke publicly for the first time of his tribe’s plight on December 7 while serving on a panel about the Darien Gap migrant passage hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, which sponsored his travel from Panama.

Some 35,000 of the agrarian Embera live largely from jungle rivers along the Panama-Colombia border, right where the Darien Gap migrant pathways have emptied a record estimated 100,000 migrants from more than 100 nations (10 times the usual annual numbers) on their way to the U.S. southern border, a great many drawn by word of lenient Biden administration policies that show no sign of lifting in its remaining three years.

During the panel and later to several Republican members of Congress, Mayor Agapi expressed puzzlement as to why human rights groups that protect indigenous tribes – and a Panamanian government interested only in moving them into the next country – have forsaken his tribe’s new problems in favor of facilitating the historic migrant tide he believes is causing them. Front and center among these is a food insecurity crisis that developed in 2021. The Embera leader said not a single advocacy group for indigenous peoples has reached out to assess how the tribe is managing the 2021 migrant swell through its territory.

“One of the rights that we’re fighting for – human rights – is just our sustenance, because a lot of these immigrants are passing through our fields. They take a lot of our crop, so a lot of folks are without food, without crops,” Mayor Agapi explained as one ill effect of the mass migration swamping his tribe. “And we’re the only ones that are fighting for this. There are no other organizations that are recognizing that this is a problem and fighting for us.

“There are no organizations that are fighting for our human rights.”

Food insecurity has spiked not just because thousands of hungry migrants are taking the harvests. With so much easy money coming in for transporting and guiding the migrants, many Embera men have abandoned their duties to plant new crops for these new endeavors, or to hunt and fish.

“Especially in the last few months, it’s been a terrible problem for us.”

Of primary concern to Mayor Agapi is the corrupting influence of cash the migrants offer the Embera for guiding and transportation services, previously unimaginable sudden relative wealth that most young people are ill-equipped to manage.

“The problem is that, honestly, the immigrants bring money with them,” he said. “That’s the source of the problems.”

This year, the money fueled a rash of alcoholism and cocaine use among Embera youth. A typical fee for a ride aboard a motorized Embera canoe, which can carry more than 100 at a time, is $25 per migrant. Hundreds of such boats move constantly along rivers from to ferry migrants fresh out of the Gap into Embera villages and eventually into Panamanian government hands. The Panamanian government, which sees a national interest in ensuring the migrants keep moving to the next country, maintains hospitality camps near the Pan-American Highway and facilitates bus transport on it north to Costa Rica, as CIS was first to report in late 2018.

With this year’s shift to modern money, he said, the tribe’s youth are spending proceeds on cocaine and alcohol, becoming addicted and tearing families apart. Some are leaving the community for extended periods to use drugs in Panama City and transport them back to the jungle for sale to others.

“The first problem is alcohol, especially in our younger generation. So when they become alcoholics, then it becomes a family problem between married couples,” he explained.

Mayor Agapi said the Panamanian government is entirely indifferent to the tribe’s sufferings, showing only overriding interest in helping the migrants who are causing them.

In a moment of somewhat pained candor, Mayor Agapi did describe another problem besetting the tribe that has drawn government attention: some Embera men are using hunting rifles passed down from father to son for generations to rob and rape the migrants in the jungle.

During his Washington trip last week, the Embera leader said he was traveling among the villages to warn men to stop these terrible abuses. But he also acknowledged that he had little power to do much more than persuade his people that such crime is not part of Embera culture and to work with police… More here from CIS.org.

 

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.