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August 1, 2018NPR audio – D.A. King on the amnesty defeat in 2007 – I am not allowed on NPR anymore.Immigration a Hot Issue for GrassrootsThe Dustin Inman Society, an anti-illegal immigration group, advocates securing the borders and enforcing deportation in such a way that creates an inhospitable climate so that illegal immigrants will leave, and employers won’t hire them. D.A. King, president of the group, spoke with John Ydstie.NPR Here.
February 26, 2009D.A. King – a face for radio on NPR . AUDIOLast month I recorded an interview with Stephen Goss in the studios of the local NPR affiliate, WABE radio (90.1FM Atlanta). It was part of a series on “The Changing Face of Atlanta” and aired this morning. Below is a link to the interview if you want to listen to the voice of the face for radio …on the radio. Note: In the interview, I was asked for my estimate on how many illegal aliens I thought were in the Metro Atlanta area…I answered with my estimate for the entire state of Georgia…about 800,000. MY FAULT for misunderstanding the question. (Former state Senator Sam Zamarripa, a member of the national board of MALDEF, put the number of illegals in Georgia at one million in 2006 when he unsuccessfully opposed the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act. Besides being one of the pioneers in the illegal industry of making mortgage loans to illegal aliens, Zamarripaa is also the founder and Chairman of the Georgia Association of Latino Eltected Offials (GALEO) run by Jerry Gonzalez and supported by Jane Fonda.) On behalf of the Dustin Inman Society, many thanks to Mr. Stephen Goss, WABE and NPR. Link to WABE radio HERE – link directly to the interview below…about 6 minutes. NO LAUGHING! From the WABE Website:
May 12, 2006D.A. King goes to San Antonio and hangs out with the NPR crowd. Panel discussion on Latinos, borders and that pesky rule of law. Multi-media.Panel discussion on illegal immigration in the media now and this weekend. See below for information. D.A. King, president of The Dustin Inman Society was a panelist on a seven member panel discussion on Latinos and illegal immigration that was broadcast live on Texas PBS TV [KLRN-TV] and Texas Public Radio from San Antonio last Sunday, May 7, 2006. Different versions of the event available this online and on PBS TV this weekend. Panelists were: Moderator: Maria Hinojosa, PBS NOW correspondent and National Council of La Raza Award Ruben Salazar winner, formerly with CNN. We hope that you can find time to watch or listen to one or all of the three versions of the event. There was a live audience present and the Q&A segment was quite lively. Information on accessing the panel discussion below. Listen to a tape of the live audio of complete one hour panel discussion [ without Q&A] taped from the live broadcast on Texas Public Radio [unedited] here. Available now.
Listen to Latino USA – NPR national radio broadcast [edited] here. Read San Antonio Express-News report here. Feedback to D.A King [please] DA@TheDustinInmanSociety.org contact info for PBS and NPR available on respective Websites above. September 9, 2018Insider Advantage Georgia – Bottoms Transfers ICE inmates; Gwinnett Eyes Taking Them #KeishaBottomsBottoms Transfers ICE inmates; Gwinnett Eyes Taking Them Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms yesterday signed an executive order ending the city’s contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and calling for all remaining illegal alien detainees to be transferred out of the Atlanta City Detention Center. Critics say it basically turns Atlanta into a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants and prompted neighboring Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway to tell InsiderAdvantage: “I am open to take a look at holding these ICE prisoners and willing to talk to ICE about it.” The federal ICE agency, tasked with not just arresting and deporting illegal aliens but also sex and drug traffickers, pays for the housing of criminal immigrants. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the lost revenue represents one-fifth of the Atlanta’s jail’s budget. Atlanta, though, has enough money to fund a legal defense fund for illegal aliens. Just last November, the city set aside $150,000 of taxpayer money for legal defense for people who are accused of running afoul of federal immigration law under a program with the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice. Bottoms turned to an advisory board for advice on the executive order and a look at the membership reveals it is heavy with former inmates, self-described left-wing activists and Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck. “The new mayor has set up an advisory board consisting of well-known corporate-funded, anti-enforcement immigration activists and seems to have adopted the leftist open borders agenda and run with it,” says D.A. King, president of the Dustin Inman Society. “It raises the question: is the city getting too much funding from taxpayers? Mayor Bottoms has enough taxpayer funding to offer legal assistance to illegal aliens facing deportation and enough to end a program that reportedly represents a fifth of the revenue for jail funding. Add to that the family separation hardship she has inflicted on the families of illegal aliens who are captured in the future and will now be transferred to distant south Georgia holding facilities instead of being close by in the Atlanta jail.” Phil Kent is the CEO and publisher of InsiderAdvantage and a regular panelist on Fox5Atlanta’s Sunday Georgia Gang broadcast. Here. March 18, 2018D.A. King in the Boston Globe: Letter to editor – What about legal immigrants?Boston Globe letters, March 17, 2018 Note, the Globe has a policy on use of the legal and accurate term “illegal alien,” which is what I wrote in my letter.  photo: louisproyect Globe editor, Your story about Lilian Calderon Jimenez (“Detained and bewildered,” Page A1, March 12) hit all the usual notes on the evils of borders and of enforcement of American immigration laws. But thank you for explaining that this victim of borders was already under a final order of deportation. And that her case was 15 years old. After reading formulated stories like this for years, I have grown weary of the repetition and clear message they are intended to send. Immigrant living here illegally: victim. Immigration enforcement: oppression. It seems most readers do not realize that the United States must either enforce its immigration laws or admit that the legal immigrants who join the American family according to our laws are fools and that the rule of law upon which our republic was founded is a thing of the past. We look forward to reading about the American dream of the 1 million legal immigrants we admit each year and their expectation of equal protection under the law. D.A. King President The Dustin Inman Society Marietta, Ga. The Dustin Inman Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for enforcement of our immigration laws. Here December 4, 2017D.A. King in Sunday’s Boston Globe: Letters – Enforcement works
Boston Globe Opinion Delighted that Trump is making good on promise to enforce immigration laws Sunday, December 03, 2017 The article “Rules shifted abruptly, and fear rushed in” (Page A1, Nov. 26, online headline was different) highlights some indisputable truths on illegal immigration. As it is with all crimes, the threat of enforcement causes great discomfort for the perps. During the campaign, Donald Trump promised to tighten enforcement of our immigration laws. To the delight of Americans who value the rule of law, Matt Viser’s extended report shows us that that promise is being kept. The United States takes in more legal immigrants than any other nation on the planet. To wink at the *illegal immigrants who have been allowed to assume that we have officially open borders, or that our already liberal immigration laws do not apply to them, is to dishonor not only real immigrants but also the rich tradition of joining the American family according to American rules. Another glaring revelation in the story is that Mexican citizen Anayeli Cruz, one of the victims of borders who was interviewed, could only tell your reporter how tough her life is now in York, Pa., through a translator, after having been looking for a better life in the United States for about 12 years. Many thanks to the Globe for confirming what most people already know about immigration: Enforcement works. D.A. King President The Dustin Inman Society Marietta, Ga. The Dustin Inman Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for enforcement of our immigration laws. HERE
June 21, 2017An open letter to Georgia’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board Re; City of Atlanta refuses mulligan gift from unproductive IERB – request IERB members recommend abolishment of the board
Photo: Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signs HB 87 into law, My, 2011
June 22, 2017 An open letter to Georgia’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board Re; City of Atlanta refuses mulligan gift from unproductive IERB – request IERB members recommend abolishment of the board
Dear members of the IERB, After no little trouble on my part, nearly a year ago I filed a valid complaint against the City of Atlanta because they refused to protect public benefits according to state law which received much national news coverage when it was created in 2006 and international media attention the last time it was modified (2011). OCGA 50-36-1 clearly requires all agencies that administer public benefits – including business licenses/occupational tax certificates – to follow simple and standardized procedures to help insure that applicants are eligible and are not illegal aliens. The City of Atlanta acknowledged their Business License office was not following the state law, but defiantly defended themselves by saying they were in compliance with their own city ordinance on the process. The IERB made a unanimous decision that my complaint is accurate and that City of Atlanta was in violation and sent me this letter to that effect. The IERB “requested” that Atlanta take remedial action to correct the estimated six thousand violations that occurred over the course of five years. While I awaited a meaningful sanction from the board on which you serve, apparently a procedural error was discovered which caused the entire hearing process on my complaint to be repeated from the beginning. The original finding of violation had zero effect on the defense from the City of Atlanta in the second version of your proceedings. Their lawyer brought in the same witness to make the same Ground Hog Day claim: ‘we are in compliance with city law…and since state law doesn’t mention non-profit businesses, we think the law is ambiguous and difficult to obey or understand…’ I have received a second letter from the IERB with the same finding of violation and the same ‘request’ that Atlanta obey the law. We should all be so lucky in our own business and daily responsibilities under the law. “Window dressing” indeed. I write today to make it clear that it is my assumption that the current delay in further IERB action and a meaningful punishment is intended to allow the City of Atlanta time to now begin compliance and escape any sanctions by simply stating they have stopped their violations. State law allows the IERB to impose punishments that will deter other agencies from future violations. Having had similar experience with the IERB since its inception, I offer the request that if there is no intention of real use of authority in investigation of further violations or any real sanctions for clear violations of the law over which you have authority, the board members admit there is no reason for the board to exist and to explain that premise to the General Assembly and the people of Georgia. The pervasive official attitude across the state is that 2011’s HB 87 and all laws aimed at the crime of illegal immigration can easily be treated as optional in Georgia. The IERB and so far, the Attorney General’s office have done nothing to change that perception. I am aware that state law allows the AG’s office to prosecute violations of the three laws over which the IERB has preview totally separately and in addition to whatever action the board takes – or does not take. As you know, I have more than ten additional complaints pending with the board. I have little confidence in fair resolution. I am now beginning the process of seeking assistance for a remedy in the court system, where adjudication of violations of state law have a better chance of seeing real, wholehearted attention and justice. I am not going to ignore the board’s inaction despite the fact that the governor, the legislature and Atlanta’s media does exactly that. While I am aware some board members sincerely strive for an equal application of the law, I hope that you will all make recommendations to the General Assembly to disband the IERB and allow a workable, enthusiastic justice system that actually uses investigative authority to take over. I also note here that I have a great deal of trouble recalling more than one meeting or hearing since the board’s creation in 2011 that saw attendance by the entire board membership. Including in the “watch-dog media,” to my experienced knowledge, I am the only person in Georgia who pays attention to compliance on the illegal immigration legislation passed by the General assembly and signed into law by Governor Deal or investigates obvious violations. D.A. King January 21, 2017WABE News, Atlanta – D.A. King interview, 2009
WABE Atlanta NPR affiliate. D.A. King, February 2009.
December 10, 2016D.A. King (and Erroll B. Davis) in the Macon Telegraph: On Illegal Immigration and Georgia’s Higher-Ed System (Note: This is one the MDJ editor, J.K. Murphy declined to publish, even after he edited out the paragraph on the AJC’s Jeremy Redmon. I no longer subscribe to the MDJ)“The Alliant Energy Corporation, where Davis served variously as President, CEO, and Chairman from 1998 to 2006 when he became Georgia’s USG Chancellor sponsors the Erroll B. Davis, Jr. Achievement Award. But, not all students are eligible. To receive the tuition help, students must be either legal immigrants or, (gulp)…U.S. citizens.” And white students need not apply. Macon Telegraph December 9, 2016 OPINION D.A. King Georgia’s former University System of Georgia ( USG ) Chancellor, Erroll Davis, was recently quoted in the AJC as saying that the current policy of keeping illegal aliens out of some USG schools and charging them out-of-state tuition at the remaining institutions equated to segregationist “Jim Crow” laws. Trained on coverage by the New York Times Institute on Immigration Reporting at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and the Institute for Justice and Journalism on Immigration, the AJC’s Jeremy Redmon wrote “Davis, who is black, said he sees parallels between the enforcement of those policies today and the Jim Crow era when African-Americans were barred from certain public institutions…” Davis has had a change of heart on the restrictions. He was chancellor when the above policy was implemented, but he is not alone in the disgusting comparison. The “it’s Jim Crow!” angle on mainstream America’s objection to rewarding illegal immigration is boilerplate rhetoric for the totalitarian, anti-borders crowd. Davis’ race-baiting here approaches that of Emiko Soltis who is Executive Director and Professor of Human Rights and Social Movements at something calling itself “Freedom University”. According to its website, “Freedom University is a modern-day freedom school based in Atlanta. We provide rigorous college preparation classes, college and scholarship application assistance, and leadership development for undocumented students in Georgia.”  Erroll Davis photo: USG The ‘college prep’ courses aimed at victims of borders at Georgia’s FU include *‘Border Studies: Immigration, Identity, and the Undocumented Student Movement’
Use of the word “undocumented” in FU’s self-description is rather amusing, as Soltis herself allowed to the fellow progressives at Atlanta’s WABE radio early this year “the term “undocumented” is racial code.” “None of these bans would’ve been passed if they said, “let’s ban brown students.” Soltis explained to the WABE “Closer Look” crew. It looks like both Davis and Soltis may be trying to say that protecting our university system for residents with legal status is a civil rights violation. Or that all minorities are illegal aliens. Or that all illegal aliens are minorities. It’s confusing. Somebody should ask them about it. Emiko Soltis is a graduate of Emory University, which is in the news for its consideration of implementing a “sanctuary policy” for illegal alien students to go along with its already in-place scholarship program for illegals. For readers trying to sort through the confusing priorities of the identity politics/ illegal alien lobby and keep score on all this, add the fact that former Chancellor Erroll Davis is quite proud of a scholarship program administered in his name. The Alliant Energy Corporation, where Davis served variously as President, CEO, and Chairman from 1998 to 2006 when he became Georgia’s USG Chancellor sponsors the Erroll B. Davis, Jr. Achievement Award. But, not all students are eligible. To receive the tuition help, students must be either legal immigrants or, (gulp)…U.S. citizens. And white students need not apply. To be considered for the Erroll B. Davis Academic Achievement Award, student applicants must be “African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian, Southeast Asian or from a racial or ethnic group traditionally underrepresented in the fields of Engineering or Business.” Maybe WABE will take a “closer look” at the difference in opinion on college admissions and what constitutes “racial code?” Georgia voters have their own opinions on illegal aliens and higher education. In the last state-wide poll, two-thirds of Georgians wanted to bar “the undocumented” from attending taxpayer-funded state universities – at any tuition rate. Sixty-seven percent of people polled in September 2010 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for the Georgia Newspaper Partnership favor a law requiring proof of legal residency to even attend a Georgia college or university. This majority outlook reflects the intent of 2006 state legislation, the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, part of which was written to keep all illegals out of all tax-funded post secondary schools. Regardless of what the soon-to-be President Trump does or does not do in office, Georgia lawmakers should take a stand and clarify state laws on admissions and any public subsidies to any post-secondary education of any illegal aliens. Let’s not allow Emiko Soltis and Erroll Davis to dictate Georgia’s higher-ed policy. HERE D.A. King is president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society Twitter: @DAKDIS October 21, 2016D.A. King in the Bucks County, PA Times Courier: On immigration, enforcement and facts matter
Bucks County Times Courier On immigration, enforcement and facts matter October 21, 2016 In his recent opinion piece on Donald Trump ( Deporting migrant workers and economic output October 11, 2016 & pasted below), the crime of illegal immigration and the concept that we should not enforce our immigration laws, Theodore Cohen omits much and in my view gets a lot very wrong. Perhaps the most amusing is the premise that if we do not continue to use black-market labor on American farms, strawberries will vanish from our stores, or they will cost — wait for it … $20 a pound. Cohen tells us of the profitable days of his youth shoveling snow and then tells us those happy times are over for American youth because commercial services are using illegal labor. And he doesn’t want that scenario to change. It is not clear why he isn’t outraged that the crime of illegal immigration has stolen the opportunity for 21st century youth to live their American dream of “big coin” shoveling snow. All Americans should honor and defend real immigrants. By federal definition, that sacred term applies to individuals who enter the United States lawfully with the intention of permanent residence. Illegal aliens are not “immigrants” and strawberries or not, intentionally blurring the line between the two groups is shameful. More U.S. workers would do American farm work if earnings were higher, but a wage increase doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. But we still don’t need illegal workers. Cohen doesn’t mention that agriculture is the only industry in the nation with its own temporary worker visa. The H2A Ag visa allows U.S. farmers to import an unlimited (no ceiling) number of legal, temporary, foreign workers. The rub here for many in the Ag business is that these H2A workers must be fairly paid. The illegal workers are cheaper. Cohen’s baseless claim on the cost of lawfully produced strawberries seems to have been plucked out of thin air — or tossed out by the Ag lobby. We respectfully point him to the fact that labor costs represent a very small portion of the retail price of fruit. According to Philip Martin, labor economist at the University of California, Davis, writing in the New York Times (Dec., 2011): “For a typical household, a 40 percent increase in farm labor costs translates into a 3.6 percent increase in retail prices. If farm wages rose 40 percent, and this wage increase were passed on to consumers, average spending on fresh fruits and vegetables would rise about $15 a year, the cost of two movie tickets. However, for a typical seasonal farm worker, a 40 percent wage increase could raise earnings from $10,000 for 1,000 hours of work to $14,000 — lifting the wage above the federal poverty line.” Finally, Cohen cites unproven “the sky is falling” reports about the results of state bills aimed at illegal immigration, echoing his “no more strawberries for you!” fable. One claim focused on the 2011 passage of legislation — House Bill 87 — in my home state of Georgia as evidence to support the anti-enforcement agenda. House Bill 87 was aimed at protecting jobs, benefits and services for legal residents, including immigrants — like my adopted sister. Fact: Georgia has more illegal aliens than Arizona. The heart of HB 87 was the requirement for use of the no-cost federal employment verification system, E-Verify, for nearly all employers in Georgia, with the intention of driving illegals out of the state. It’s working. The number of illegals has declined. Many more growers are now using the H2A visa for labor needs. Agriculture is Georgia’s No. 1 industry. In early 2011, to no one’s surprise, the anti-borders mob screamed in the streets that if put into law, HB 87 would encourage “racial profiling,” create second class “citizens” and would harm the state’s economy, particularly the agricultural industry. “No more peaches,” we were told. Fast forward: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Georgia’s agricultural exports reached an estimated $3 billion in 2013, up from $1.8 billion in 2009. Since 2011 and passage of HB 87, Georgia been declared “the No. 1 state in which to do business” three times by the influential Site Selection magazine. Facts matter. D.A. King, a nationally recognized authority on immigration, is president of the Georgia-based, non-profit Dustin Inman Society. He assisted with creation and passage of Georgia’s House Bill 87 in 2011. www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org. Through early voting, he has voted for Donald Trump for president. HERE ___ Original article Deporting migrant workers and economic output October 11, 2016 Theodore Cohen As a boy growing up in the Midwest, March blizzards brought closed schools, hours of sledding, and opportunities for my brother, Ron, and me to earn big bucks shoveling our neighbors’ driveways and sidewalks. It wasn’t unusual for us to earn $50 in a day, big coin for two teenagers in the early ’50s. Now, in Middletown, the snow is removed by a service that employs foreign labor … good, hard-working people from “south of the border.” All that would change in an administration run by Mr. Trump, who repeatedly has stated plans to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country if he becomes president. He reiterated this proposal on his first day as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. [Note: at this writing, this still appears to be his position, though one never knows from day to day, given his wishy-washy position on the subject.] Setting aside the cost to implement such a plan — some estimates put the cost per immigrant at $10,000, making the total cost around $110 billion — one has to wonder whether the candidate has considered the consequences of such an action. After all, in Mr. Trump’s mind, these 11 million immigrants are nothing but criminals, drug dealers, and rapists, right? Wrong! For better or for worse, the U.S. economy depends on foreign labor far more than most of us realize. To give you an idea of what would happen if even a small portion of the immigrants Mr. Trump wants to deport are actually sent home, consider what’s already happened in several states that cracked down on their immigrant populations. I’m not talking about deporting individuals or families; I’m referring to laws that affected their ability to work. For example, in 2011, the year after Arizona enacted SB 1070, or the “show me your papers” law, the state’s tourism industry lost $250 million and 3,000 jobs (after all, who do you think cleans the rooms, buses the tables, washes the dishes, and maintains the grounds at the state’s hotels and motels?). Alabama passed a similar law in 2011 (HB 56). The result? Because of a shortage of labor, work on farms and in factories across the state slowed so dramatically that the annual economic damage was estimated at about $11 billion. And when Georgia enacted HB 87 in 2011 (an anti-immigration law that mirrors Arizona’s ill-fated 2010 law, SB 1070), it made life difficult for the undocumented migrant workers who normally would have helped to harvest that state’s fruits and vegetables. The loss of these workers — who quickly moved out of state — caused Georgia to lose as much as $1 billion in agricultural output alone as crops rotted in the field. Some farmers went bankrupt while others cut back on their plantings. As well, many small communities that relied on the money and consumption power of migrant workers withered. Today, according to TakePart, prisoners are increasingly called upon to harvest what we’ve been putting on our tables, from “… Vidalia onions in Georgia to watermelons in Arizona to apples in Washington to the potatoes of southern Idaho.” Taken together, the impact of the various state laws to address undocumented immigrants has been to severely impact state revenues, lower farm output, and reduce tourism while, at the same time, raising the cost of produce for you and me. The problem is not going to be resolved anytime soon, regardless of what is done vis-à-vis immigration. It should be obvious that Americans aren’t willing to take the more difficult farm jobs while Hispanics, who traditionally have worked in this area, are moving on to better paying jobs in packing plants and other industrial areas. This, of course, has forced labor costs to rise, which translates into higher food costs. removes middle instory ad Now consider what could happen if Mr. Trump, upon being elected president, fulfills his plan to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. How does $20 for a pound of strawberries sound on your next trip to the supermarket … assuming you can even find some to purchase? Theodore J. Cohen, Ph.D., of Middletown is a novelist and short-story writer. He spent more than 40 years in Washington, watching what went on inside the Beltway first |
