Open records request
October 20, 2015
To whom it may concern in the office of Georgia Attorney General,
Please regard this as my official request for open/public records.
Background: In mid-2010 I filed a complaint against each of the then-Georgia Board of Regents with the allegation that they were in violation of state and federal law regarding admission of illegal aliens into the University System of Georgia.
Because state law does not allow a common citizen to lodge such a complaint through the GBI, I was told to file the complaint with a local law enforcement officer, which I did in the office of Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren. News reports and dialogue with the sherrif indicate that the complaint went from Sheriff Warren’s office, to the GBI and then to the Attorney General’s office.
State law then was 50-36-1 [1] – Federal law was and is 8 USC 1621 [2]
(c)“State or local public benefit” defined
(1)Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), for purposes of this subchapter the term “State or local public benefit” means—
(A)any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by an agency of a State or local government or by appropriated funds of a State or local government; and
(B)any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of a State or local government or by appropriated funds of a State or local government.
It has now been more than five years since I lodged my complaint. I have never heard from the AG office on this matter and have never received any notice of hearing, review, investigation or resolution, either official or otherwise.
Please note that I am aware of the fact that your office was under a different administration at the time. Also, please note that this is an important official matter and I am confident that documents and records exist to demonstrate any action or lack there of on my 2010 complaint.
I am also aware that it was the stated position of then-candidate for Attorney General, Sam Olens (indeed, it was the stated position of all 2010 candidates for AG – and for governor [3]), that illegal aliens were prohibited by law from any admission to USG schools, regardless of tuition rate.
Please see: “Candidates to Regents: ‘Follow law’ “ Marietta Daily Journal, June 23, 2010. [4]
“Republican Sam Olens said Georgia law bars illegal immigrants from attending public universities. “Absent a student visa, they should not be attending such institutions,” he said.
Olens called on the Georgia Board of Regents, the body that governs Georgia’s colleges and universities, to “immediately follow the law. Illegal immigrants have no right to attend the universities.”
To aid in recall and to insure accuracy of my recollection, I also paste a 2010 news report from the Atlanta Journal Constitution on the bottom of this request, as part of the official request for open records.
REQUEST:
Please forward to me copies of any and all records, both hard copy and electronic, including emails regarding your office receiving, acting on and/or resolving my complaint that the Regents were and are in violation of state and federal law regarding state and local public benefits in allowing illegal aliens to attend any taxpayer-funded Georgia postsecondary education institution [5].
I am happy to pay any lawfully applied fees for copies. I would be grateful if these documents were sent to me via electronic mail.
Please contact me with any question and accept my sincere thanks for your excellent work and for your time. I would also regretful for a reply to know your office has received this request.
Respectfully,
D.A. King
Marietta, Ga.
Twitter @DAKDIS
Cc: as noted
Georgia’s immigration controversy reaches attorney general
By Ty Tagami
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
7:27 p.m. Thursday, June 10, 2010
The battle over illegal immigration touched off by Kennesaw State University student Jessica Colotl has reached Georgia’s top legal adviser.
The office of Attorney General Thurbert Baker will review a request to determine whether Georgia’s public university system violated the law by admitting illegal immigrants such as Colotl.
The request originated with Cobb County immigration activist D.A. King. He asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the matter, but was told that the GBI could initiate an inquiry only if a public official or law enforcement agency asked for one.
So King talked to Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren, who agreed to make a formal request. The GBI then passed it along to the attorney general.
King said the University System of Georgia is breaking state and federal laws by admitting illegal immigrants.
“The law is very clear,” King said. “Illegal aliens are not eligible for post-secondary education, and the Board of Regents are bound by that law.”
A university system spokesman says King is wrong.
“The law does not preclude an undocumented alien from being admitted to a public institution,” spokesman John Millsaps said.
The dispute is driven by Colotl’s enrollment at KSU. She entered this country illegally when she was 10 and went on to graduate from a Georgia high school.
Immigration authorities began deportation proceedings after her immigration status came to light due to a March traffic violation on campus. She got a one-year reprieve so she could complete her degree.
Prior to her arrest, Colotl paid in-state tuition because college officials were not aware of her status. She will now be charged out-of-state tuition.
After the traffic stop, the Cobb sheriff’s office obtained a warrant for Colotl’s arrest, accusing her of lying to police about her address. Colotl turned herself in and was released on bond.
A spokesperson for Warren declined to comment Thursday, citing an ongoing investigation.
But Warren told the Marietta Daily Journal that he asked for the GBI’s involvement because “I think someone is in violation of the law and I think someone independently should look into it,” according to an article published on the newspaper’s Web site Wednesday.
GBI spokesman John Bankhead said his agency forwarded the sheriff’s request to the attorney general “and will not proceed with any investigation without a request from his office.”
A spokesman for Baker said the GBI’s letter arrived Thursday and that the issue was under review. The spokesman, Russ Willard, could not say when a determination would be made.
The legal dispute seems to turn on federal statues that dictate who is ineligible for the “public benefit” of a college education.
The Marietta newspaper said Warren’s letter cites Section 1621 of Title 8. That federal statute says “an alien who is not … a qualified alien … is not eligible for any state or local public benefit,” including “postsecondary education … for which payments or assistance are proved to an individual … .”
King interprets that to mean a prohibition on admission to any college or university funded with government money.
“There should be nobody in our educational system taking up a classroom seat who is not lawfully present,” King said. “It’s not only illegal. It’s immoral.”
But Millsaps, the university system spokesman, said the Board of Regents is following the law according to “generally accepted interpretations from the federal level on down.”
Georgia’s university system asked U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for a legal interpretation and was given a copy of one previously generated for North Carolina’s community college system.
It said states could create laws either prohibiting or allowing attendance by illegal immigrants, Millsaps said. Georgia has done neither, so, he said, “if a student enrolls and attends, that is not a violation of federal law.”
Millsaps said that ultimately a federal court may have to decide who is right.
King said it may come to that. He said he is considering filing a civil lawsuit over the issue.
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/georgias-immigration-controversy-reaches-546475.html