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Breitbart News
March 1, 2019

Neil Munro

Georgia Establishment Legislators Try to Hide Migrant Crime from Voters

Republican and Democratic legislators in Georgia are trying to block good-government legislation that would help Georgia voters learn the number of criminal illegal aliens in their state.

The draft legislation would require state officials to provide quarterly reports on the number of deportable illegal migrants and of non-citizens who are held in detention. But it must pass the Georgia House’s rules committee and the House floor before midnight March 7.

The bill, HB 202, was promoted in a February 28 hearing by GOP state Rep. Jesse Petrea. But the GOP chairman of the rules committee quickly signaled his opposition to the legislation. “Why do we need this?” chairman Jay Powell challenged Petrea.

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In response, Petrea criticized “the inability by both parties in Congress to do anything to deal with this [illegal migration] problem,” adding:

What we can do is make the people we represent recognize the degree to which the issue impacts their lives daily … There are 1,505 violent and sex offenders in Georgia correctional facilities [on the list] who murdered, raped, killed, kidnapped, child-molested Georgia citizens … So the people can look at that list and have complete transparency and they can say “That is a big deal,” or they may say “That is not a big deal.” But right now, that data is not available to them … All I want is for that data to be transparent and posted on the web site. And the people can make up their own minds.

“1,505 inmates is a lot of money on our budget and it is a lot of human tragedy,” Petrea added.

Three Democrats joined in opposition to the bill.

Rep. Robert Trammell suggested the release of the statistics would “inflame public opinion against a group based on their citizenship or non-citizenship status.”

Rep. Al Williams said the local sheriffs have not complained about a lack of the information. “The question cries out for why we need this legislation.”

Petrea responded by saying the sheriffs “are already getting this information … Do you believe the people of Georgia have a right to see this aggregated data? It is really that simple.”

Democratic Rep. William Boddie then suggested the release of the information might spark “race riots.” He said: “Do you realize that by publishing this on the website that this could inflame inmates and possibly cause race riots inside of our Georgia penal institutes?”

“That is the most absurd question I’ve heard, ” Patrea responded. “The only singular thing you can find in this population is they are here illegally … This bill is about public safety. These individuals are here illegally and then subsequently committed a violent crime on Georgia citizens. That is the only thing singular about them.”… Read more here.