D.A. King: ACCG, GMA lobbying against stronger law on aliens

by D.A. King

Guest columnist
March 16, 2010

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia and the Georgia Municipal Authority are not exactly well-known, household names to the average Georgian. They should be.

They are two of the largest and most powerful lobbying groups in the Georgia Capitol. And neither of them seems to be on the same side of the illegal immigration/illegal employment fight as the citizen majority.

Including the ACLU, MALDEF and Jerry Gonzalez at the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, it would be difficult to find any organizations that are more effective in keeping meaningful punishments for violations out of the 2006 Georgia law that requires local governments and their contractors to use the federal E-Verify and SAVE systems.

Wait until you find out the source of their income. More on that further down.

A brief look at their respective Web sites provides some insight into each group. ACCG: “The Association County Commissioners of Georgia is a nonprofit instrumentality of Georgia’s county governments.” From the GMA Web site: “Our purpose is to anticipate and influence the forces shaping Georgia’s communities and to provide leadership, tools and services that assist local governments in becoming more innovative, effective and responsive.”

The recent discovery of the black-market construction labor working on the Cobb County Courthouse again illustrated the obvious flaw in Georgia’s law intended to ensure that tax dollars are not spent to employ black-market labor. There are virtually no punishments for ignoring the law.

That is not an accident. Let’s be crystal clear on this: the ACCG and GMA are directly and most responsible for the law being weak on enforcement tools.

The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act went into effect in 2007 and required that all local governments use the E-Verify system to be sure they were not paying illegal aliens with tax dollars and to use the federal SAVE system to verify the eligibility of applicants for public benefits.

Even now, there is not 100 percent compliance.

In the 2009 legislative session, House Bill 2 was introduced to amend the language of the original law so that it would have teeth. HB 2 was fought in every step of the long committee process by the ACLU, MALDEF, GALEO and both ACCG and GMA.

A much watered down version of HB 2 eventually passed, but still without any real punishment for violations, thanks to the dedicated and tireless “kill the bill” lobbying from the ACCG and GMA. The other groups’ opposition only creates more “yes” votes.

Currently there are several bills pending under the Gold Dome that would put substantial and effective sanctions into law for the local governments and their contractors who are now treating it as an option.

HB 1164 is a comprehensive fix for the loopholes in the 2006 law that all concerned have so industriously sought out on the original intention of denying Georgia’s taxpayer-funded jobs and benefits to illegal aliens.

“As we continue to deal with declining state revenues and increasing unemployment, we must ensure that every dollar we appropriate is spent on jobs, services, and benefits for Georgians who are eligible,” says Representative Rick Austin (R-Demorest) the bill’s sponsor.

Along with the ACLU, the GMA opposes the bill and will lobby against it in Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing. Under pressure, on its legislative tracking Web page, the ACCG has recently changed its “oppose” position to “evaluating” – but is still working to weaken the bill.

Another bill, the Georgia Public Works and Contractor Protection Act (SB 460), authored by Cobb Republican state Sen. Judson Hill, is specifically designed to address the widespread violations of the law illustrated in the Cobb Courthouse construction scandal.

GMA opposes the bill.

I promised to let you know who is providing the funds to pay the salaries of the lobbyists at the ACCG and GMA who work against enforcement of our state law that says we must obey federal immigration and employment and benefits laws.

You are. I am. Both groups are funded by dues paid by member counties and cities. They get the money from taxes paid by the usual victims in illegal immigration – the American taxpayer.

For an example, according to county records, Cobb paid $30,615 to the ACCG in 2008. The city of Marietta paid $$17,023 to the GMA from July 2009 to July 2010.

I am guessing not many readers were aware that they are indirectly paying anti-enforcement lobbyists’ paychecks.

The ACCG can be reached at (404) 522-5022 and the GMA at (404) 688-0472.

Silence is consent.

King is president of the Dustin Inman Society and a 27-year Cobb resident.

HERE

Note to all: The Dustin Inman Society worked very hard on both the 2006 GSICA and last year’s HB 2. Most Public Benefits are denied to illegal aliens in federal law. Enforcement works. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED GET BOTH BILLS PASSED INTO LAW. It is what we do! INFO HERE

Chattanooga Time Free Press

Immigrant status law impacts class numbers
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

By:
Perla Trevizo (Contact)

Dalton State College lost about 55 percent of its English-as-a-second-language learners after a law went into effect that required proof of legal immigration status.

But school officials say they can’t attribute the entire loss to the law.

“Normally, we would enroll about 400 ESL students each quarter. Currently, we probably have about 180,” said Sherry Riley, adult education director for Dalton State. “A lot of it is the new law, but also it could be that people have moved away because of the lack of jobs here, so I think it’s a combination of both.”

Under House Bill 2, which went into effect Jan. 1, applicants for public benefits, including adult education, must sign a form notarized on site proving their legal status.

At Georgia Northwestern Technical College, where classes started Jan. 6, it’s too soon to determine the impact of the law, said Susan Hackney, vice president of the Office of Adult Education.

But she said “anecdotal information leads me to think that there will be a significant impact on our English language class enrollment, and a smaller impact on the Adult Basic Education and Adult Secondary Education enrollments,” she said.

During fiscal year 2009, the college, which covers several counties including Walker and Gordon, served 629 English language learners, or about 18.6 percent of the students who spent at least 12 hours in class, according to Ms. Hackney.

At the end of the first two quarters of fiscal year 2010, the English language learners totaled 404, or about 20 percent of the total, she said.

The bill is aimed at clarifying and “putting teeth” in the original 2006 Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, said D.A. King, president of the Dustin Inman Society, a group that publicizes the consequences of illegal immigration.

PDF: House Bill 02
“The (federal) mandate is that post-secondary education is a public benefit and thereby denied to people who are in the country illegally,” he said. “We are trying to save taxpayer dollars in a budget crisis, and cutting off benefits to people who are not eligible is a very efficient way to do that.”

But people who work closely with the immigrant communities say it has created more fear and confusion.

“Some participants in our community meetings expressed being very sad, feeling excluded and rejected, not understanding why they’re punished for trying to do something positive,” said America Gruner, founder of the Coalition for Latino Leaders.

“The number of students in our English classes has increased since the requirement to show proof of immigration status was announced,” she said, “but CLILA’s message is that, even though this is a challenge, it is also an opportunity to develop alternative solutions together from the grass-roots community.”

The nonprofit group is among several organizations and churches that offer free English classes in the region. The coalition now offers classes twice a week and will add more as the number of volunteers increases, she said.

Martha Ann Robertson, who teaches English as a second language for the adult education program at Dalton State, said the new law hasn’t affected her job at the college.

She had 14 fewer students this quarter, mainly because she had five classes instead of six, she said.

And although she cares about her students, she said, she can’t judge the government.

“I have a personal interest in all of my students and I hate to see anybody have to stop an education program, but I really don’t feel it is my role to sit in judgment on decisions that were made by the Legislature,” said Ms. Robertson, who has taught in the adult education program for more than 30 years.

“I think they have a hard job to do. I don’t think I could handle it any better than the Legislature is handling it,” she said.

HOUSE BILL 2

As of Jan. 1:

Anyone applying for public benefits, except those exempted by federal law, is required to show they are lawfully in the United States.

Every public employer, or contractor doing work for a public employer, must verify employment eligibility of all newly hired workers by using the federal program E-Verify.

Law enforcement must try to determine the immigration status of prisoners in local jails who are charged with a felony or DUI or who are convicted of driving without a license. If jailers cannot verify status, they should contact the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

HERE

Athens Banner Herald
8 December, 2009

D.A. King
Commentary

Legal status would boost illegal immigration

Robert Rosas is a name that is sadly unfamiliar to most Americans. It shouldn’t be. His tragic story is one of many that represent the “other side” of the illegal immigration “debate” that is routinely avoided by the various anti-enforcement groups and in much of the media.

Rosas, a three-year U.S. Border Patrol agent, was gunned down while on patrol on the U.S.-Mexico border near Campo, Calif., in July. He was tracking suspected illegal border-crossers who were headed north from Mexico looking for a better life when he was killed by multiple gunshots.

In November, Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez admitted entering the United States illegally from Mexico and killing Rosas. Other individuals suspected to be involved in the murder are still at large.

Maybe they made it into the interior of the United States. Maybe they’ve been rewarded with business licenses. Maybe they’ve been hired by an employer trying to save a buck or two on labor expenses. Maybe they will be given a traffic ticket for a broken taillight by an American policeman, and then sent on their way.

Maybe you soon will see some of them marching with other illegal aliens in American streets demanding taxpayer-funded health care, “justice,” legalization – and U.S. citizenship.

Killed at age 30, Rosas is one of more than 100 Border Patrol agents who have died in the line of duty. He leaves behind a wife, Rosalie, a 2-year-old son, Robert, and a now-1-year-old daughter, Allysa.

Rosas’ death should be remembered when we consider a recent Zogby International opinion poll conducted in Mexico on American immigration policy. The survey finds that people in Mexico understand that granting legal status to illegal aliens in the United States would encourage more illegal immigration to the United States. That’s what happened with the 1986 legalization scheme.

As the top immigrant-sending country for both legal and illegal immigrants, views on immigration in Mexico provide insight into the impact of another amnesty, as well as other questions related to immigration.

Among the findings taken from a report on the poll from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., is that a “clear majority of people in Mexico, 56 percent, thought giving legal status to illegal immigrants in the United States would make it more likely that people they know would go to the United States illegally. Of Mexicans with a member of their immediate household in the United States, 65 percent said a legalization program would make people they know more likely to go to America illegally.”

More from CIS:

► “Interest in going to the United States remains strong even in the current recession, with 36 percent of Mexicans telling Zogby they would move to the United States if they could.”

► “An overwhelming majority – 69 percent – of people in Mexico thought that the primary loyalty of Mexican Americans (Mexico- and U.S.-born) should be to Mexico. Just 20 percent said it should be to the United States. The rest were unsure.”

Like most Americans, Robert Rosas was sure of his loyalty. He died defending his country. His dedication to duty represents the majority pro-American side of the “immigration debate.”

Radical anti-enforcement, amnesty-again groups constantly howl that any local enforcement aimed at illegal aliens who make it past the Border Patrol tears undocumented families apart and makes the community less safe.

They should be reminded of Robert Rosas and his American family.

• D.A. King is a nationally recognized authority on illegal immigration and president of the Cobb County-based Dustin Inman Society. Inman died in 2000, at the age of 16, when a car driven by an illegal alien slammed into the car in which he was riding with his mother and father.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Original column and comments HERE

D.A. King BIO 1/2008

D.A. King, a former Marine, is a 25 -year resident of Marietta, Georgia. He writes on illegal immigration in the Marietta Daily Journal, the Athens Banner Herald, the Gwinnett Daily Post and has written in other national and Georgia newspapers including the Washington Times and the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the subscription Website, Insider Advantage Georgia.

He is founder and president of the Dustin Inman Society. [www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org ] and co-founder of Americans for Sovereignty ( www.AmericanSov.org ) .

With a focus on Georgia, The Dustin Inman Society is a coalition dedicated to educating the American public and elected officials on the consequences of illegal immigration, our un-secured borders and the breakdown of the rule of law in our republic.

The organization was named in memory of Dustin Inman, a sixteen-year-old youth from Woodstock, Georgia, killed by an illegal alien and but one of the thousands of Americans who have lost their lives as a result of our intentionally unsecured borders and illegal immigration.

D.A. has been studying our illegal immigration crisis for more than seven years and set aside his twenty five year insurance business in 2003 to devote full time to educating people on the facts and consequences of illegal immigration and illegal employment. He is widely regarded as an authority on the issue and has made four trips to the Southwest border, the most recent of which being in December 2006 as a guide to four Georgia legislators.

He has appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Live, PBS, Fox News, CNN ESPANOL, CNN Lou Dobbs Tonight, CBS EVENING NEWS, MSNBC and in a 2004 CNN Presents one hour documentary on illegal immigration in Georgia.

He was an invited witness and testified on the effects of illegal immigration in the American workplace to the August U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and The American Workforce at Congressional Field Hearings in Georgia in August 2006 and was invited to address the Emory University Journalism class the same year.

In October, 2007 he lectured to a UGA graduate class in the School of Social Work.

He has been featured in news stories on illegal immigration in National Journal, Business Week magazine, Governing magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Rocky Mountain News, the Washington Journal, the Christian Science Monitor and other nationally read newspapers.

D.A. has been a guest host on nationwide radio broadcasts and is a frequent guest on numerous radio shows and networks addressing illegal immigration including NPR, Public Radio International and CNN.

D.A. lobbies at the local level, at the Georgia Capitol and in Washington D.C. and does public speaking to educate the public. He lobbied extensively in favor of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act signed into law in April 2006 (SB 529). His present projects include working to convince local governments in Georgia to comply with the law.

D.A. works at his own expense and donations. He has spent his savings doing so. He has organized more than a dozen protest rallies against illegal immigration and a repeat of the failed amnesty of 1986, both in Georgia and Washington, including a 2005 rally at the White House and another in April of 2007, also at the White House.

In May 2007, he organized a rally to oppose the U.S. Senate amnesty bill outside Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss’ Atlanta office and near Senator Johnny Isakson’s office.

In 1977, King pled guilty to a charge of illegal gambling and was punished with a fine and probation.

D.A. and Sue have been married for 26 years. He is not a member of any political party. DA@TheDustinInmanSociety.org

Reading http://www.thedustininmansociety.org/articles/news.html _________________________________________________________________

National Public Radio

Nation

Are Local Crackdowns Forcing Immigrants Out? (Note from D.A. – they mean illegal aliens)
by Jennifer Ludden

All Things Considered, October 12, 2007 ·

States and towns across the country are passing measures aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration, and there is anecdotal evidence that undocumented immigrants are moving out of those areas.

LISTEN BUTTON HERE…about 4 minutes.

Marietta Daily Journal today

Father’s quest for justice is still strong

Published: 10/15/2007
Ashley Fuller and Marcus E. Howard

CHEROKEE COUNTY – One year after thinking he’d found justice for his son, Billy Inman of southwest Cherokee County is once again searching for the man responsible for the car crash that killed his son.

As time begins to fade, memories of their 16-year-old redheaded son, Dustin, and image of Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, a reported illegal immigrant, have become seared into the minds of Inman and his wife, Kathy, as they search for his whereabouts.

It was late in the evening during Father’s Day weekend on June 16, 2000, when the Pontiac Grand Am driven by Inman and carrying Kathy, Dustin and their dog, was stopped at a traffic light on Ga. 515 in North Georgia’s Gilmer County and suddenly struck from behind by an Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra driven by Harrell-Gonzalez at approximately 64 mph, hurling the Inmans car into the back of a Ford Bronco in front on it.

Dustin was killed in the crash. Billy and Kathy were knocked unconscious as a result of the impact, and Kathy suffered injuries that require her to use a wheelchair. The family’s dog was found dead at the scene.

Harrell-Gonzalez, who allegedly admitted to police he fell asleep behind the wheel, was taken to an Ellijay hospital and then transferred to a hospital in Dalton. He disappeared after being mistakenly released from the hospital.

In September of 2005, the man police believed to be Harrell-Gonzalez was arrested in Birmingham, Ala., but later was released after showing a magistrate court judge evidence alleging he was not Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, but his brother, Roberto Harrell-Gonzalez.

He was arrested again a month later, in October, after a review of dental records convinced authorities that he was indeed Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez. A further review of records with dental experts found differences in the dental X-rays of Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez and the man in custody who claimed to be Roberto. The man was released last September.

The Inmans remember when authorities called them to Gilmer County last September to receive the news.

“I thought they wanted me to go over the case,” Inman said, not ready for the news he was about to hear.

Mrs. Inman didn’t take it any better.

“It was like the wreck happened all over again,” she said.

With Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez still walking around somewhere as a free man, Inman has resumed his quest to find him.

Posters displaying a picture of Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez and information about the case are displayed on both sides of Inman’s truck. He carries information with him in case anybody asks about what happened. He also maintains a Web site at www.legalamericanfolks.com and carries business cards with Internet addresses and contact information concerning illegal immigration.

The Dustin Inman Society

At around the time of the crash, a northeast Cobb man began doing research the issue of illegal immigration.

D.A. King said his crusade to end illegal immigration and the practice of hiring of illegal immigrants began when between 18 and 20 people, along with as many vehicles, moved to the house across the street from where he has lived since 1984.

Since, King has written numerous newspaper and magazine columns, appeared on national television networks and lobbied lawmakers at the Capitol in Atlanta and in Washington, D.C., with the single focus of persuading all Americans that illegal immigration is devastating the country.

It was during a protest rally in 2003 to counter a pro-immigration march in Doraville when King first met the Inmans and heard their tragic story, which bolstered his belief in his cause. He eventually quit his job as an independent insurance agent, refinanced his house twice and used his savings to launch the Cobb-based, nonprofit Dustin Inman Society, which he runs to educate the public on illegal immigration.

“Billy Inman is a personal hero of mine for his dedication to finding his son’s killer,” King said. “Billy and Kathy’s goal is to keep their son’s name alive and show what unsecured borders can do.”

Unfortunately, he said, illegal immigrants have killed too many Americans. The society’s Web site, www.thedustininmansociety.org, posts names of people across the country recently by reported illegal immigrants. This past weekend, it listed more than 150 names.

Billy and Kathy sit on the society’s board of advisors, which King said is made of an ethnically diverse group of people including two Hispanics.

“I think that we have made the American public aware that it’s O.K. to speak out against the organizational crime of illegal immigration and illegal employment,” King said.

The Dustin Inman Society offers a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Dustin’s killer.

Inman is not giving up his personal search, and regularly contacts media outlets, the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – anyone he can get a hold of to keep the case alive. He said he occasionally hears from law enforcement agencies, but they tell him nothing more can be done without a lead.

“I don’t know where else to go. I feel like I’m at a dead end,” he said. “(Harrell-Gonzalez) will have his judgment one day. As far as him getting caught, I have no idea unless someone is able to pinpoint him.”

afuller@mdjonline.com, mhoward@mdjonline.com

D.A. King commentary on the law and La Bill (audio- 3 minutes) – NPR – Latino USA, Maria Hinojosa host.

May 25, 2007 show # click here to listen.

Cynthia Tucker on D.A….and D.A. on Cynthia Tucker in May.

Note to readers: Tucker has repeatedly refused to acknowledge my always open challenge to debate illegal immigration in any public arrangment or forum.

Note to Ms. Tucker: From here in Marietta, there are few things that disgust me as much as cowardice.
That fault combined with mindless support for illegal immigration is no way to go through life Ms. Tucker.

Any time Ms. Tucker.
—
From May [ see here for original blog]
Cynthia Tucker wrote a personal attack on me in last week’s AJC.

You can read it here from a different newspaper.

My response letter was published yesterday, along with nine others from the ever shrinking number of AJC readers.

My letter below, with a link to the other nine, which are posted below.

Thanks to those who sent Comrade Tucker a piece of your mind.

She needs exactly that.

From her perch high atop Mount Mindless on the far, far left, Cynthia Tucker’s “invective-filled” personal attack on me is evidence of her obvious desperation and anguish resulting from the knowledge that American voices are being heard on the national illegal immigration disaster.

Illegals wave the flag of Mexico while screaming “Los Angeles is ours!” They carry signs demanding “Amnesty now!” and “This is our continent!” Nearly five years after Sept. 11, millions of people from all over the world continue to illegally cross our unsecured borders every year. English is an optional language in Georgia.

Unlike Tucker, most Americans regard these facts as bad things.

One can only imagine the sleepless nights Tucker must suffer knowing that we even have borders — or how she must secretly regard the brave Border Patrol agents who risk their lives to guard them.

I wear Tucker’s dishonest attack as a badge of honor.

Again.

D.A. KING, Marietta

Nine other letters published in the AJC yesterday:

Cultural change can’t be mandatory

Cynthia Tucker’s column is irrelevant to the issue of illegal immigration, and her inclusion of insults toward D.A. King is irrelevant to her column. What, pray tell, does the topic of cultural change have to do with the issue of illegal immigration? It is ludicrous to say that those who oppose illegal immigration and support enforcement of our immigration laws oppose cultural change.

Why should anyone embrace cultural change forced upon them by people who come here knowingly in violation of our immigration laws and take advantage of services paid for by those of us whose culture they are here to change? Next time I see an illegal immigrant, I suppose I should open up my wallet, hand him $50 and thank him for coming to the United States and changing my culture. After all, he’s really doing me a favor.

My wife is a legal immigrant from Mexico who is now a citizen of the United States. She resents the attitude that illegal immigrants somehow have a right to be in this country, or that they have a right to services such as health care and education paid for by others.

ROBERT COZINE, Decatur

Part of one recipe

Other than the Native Americans, every American came from immigrants. Whether our ancestors came over on the Mayflower, arrived here as an indentured servant, came to escape Nazi rule, came over on a slave ship, arrived in a tiny boat from Cuba, etc., we are all from immigrants.

People need to remember that America was built as a “melting pot.”

ROBIN K. WALDEN, Ellijay

Majority favors U.S. crackdown

Why is Cynthia Tucker so angry at D.A. King? Did he do something to personally offend her, or does she have a dislike for anyone who wants our borders secured?

I read a different poll than the one referenced by Tucker, a poll that’s more in line with King’s viewpoint. In a recent Zogby poll, 69 percent said the tougher House version of the immigration bill was a good or very good idea.

I believe it only fair that you publish King’s response to Tucker’s personal attack. Better yet, I would pay good money to see a live debate between them.

JILL SEYMOUR, Mableton

Europe faces similar problems

I agree with Cynthia Tucker’s plea for reason and decency in the debate about immigration, but reason is being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the volume of illegal immigration. It’s not just a problem for the United States. It’s all over Europe as well. The riots in France last winter give a glimpse of what can happen.

President Bush is trying to get help from his friend, the president of Mexico. That’s a waste of time. He’s asking for something that’s not in Mexico’s interest. The illegal migrants are providing a sizable contribution to the Mexican economy.

Language is a key part of the problem. Migrants put an extra burden on overwhelmed social services because they can’t speak English.

A common language is an essential part of the glue that holds this country together. It is an important advantage to Americans that English is the lingua franca of our times.

LARRY HYMO, Athens

Want to stay? Learn language

The rosy picture that Cynthia Tucker attempts to paint of illegal immigration in the story of her niece, Irene, is marred by one fact: Irene’s grandfather, a U.S. resident for 23 years, is “less than fluent” in English.

I have encountered numerous Hispanics living here for many years who learn little or no English. This failure to assimilate linguistically is unprecedented in our history, and attempts to minimize the problem are folly.

For example, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that 85 percent of 911 calls in Gwinnett County needing translators are Hispanics. The language requirement the president and others are calling for is an absolute must.

WESLEY ROSS, Augusta

Newcomers not all created equal

I see that Cynthia Tucker’s journalistic prowess and command of the language far exceed that which her sister’s father-in-law possesses; but her entire article is based on two flawed premises.

> Segregation is comparable to resistance to illegal immigration: Upon examination of the Constitution, we have found that both racial segregation and illegitimate entry to this country are illegal.

> Mexican immigrants are no different than European immigrants: No, Ms. Tucker, the difference is that the vast majority of Europeans came here legally.

DAVID D. DALY, Annandale, Va.

Services stretched to breaking point

Why does the left have to play the race card on illegal immigration? If the people coming in overwhelming droves across the border were white Canadians rather that brown Mexicans, most of us would feel the same way.

There is a reason nations have immigration laws: so that it is done in moderation and fairly, where everyone gets in line and waits their turn. This protects legal citizens from the problems that have already occurred in the Southwest and California: hospitals being bankrupted, social services stretched to the limit with benefit fraud, and schools struggling to serve large numbers of illegal immigrants who can’t speak English.

RONALD HOFFMAN, Sandy Springs

Tucker fan flees

How dare Cynthia Tucker call D.A. King a racist!

Funny how I am Hispanic, and King and I are friends. King is a wonderful and good American.

I used to love to read Tucker’s columns, but now I hate them. Illegal aliens and their supporters carried the Mexican flag at their rallies, and only because Americans fumed did they switch to American flags.

Tucker’s anti-American views are disgusting.

PRISCILLA ESPINOZA, Nuevo, Calif.

King, others want their country back

I have been to several rallies where D.A. King has spoken, and he is no more racist than Cynthia Tucker.

Like King, there are 280 million other American citizens who are tired of having their voices ignored. We are tired of having protesters march in the streets, screaming in Spanish that they demand citizenship, and having the AJC sympathize with lawbreakers simply because they work hard.

MICHELLE BROCK, Lawrenceville

Home

TESTIMONY OF D.A. KING
PRESIDENT, THE DUSTIN INMAN SOCIETY
BEFORE THE
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORK FORCE
Subcommittee Field Hearing, Gainesville, Georgia
REGARDING THE SENATE PASSED IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL
[S 2611] AND ITS IMPACT ON THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE
August 14, 2006

Mr. Chairman, members of the Subcommittee, good morning.

My name is D.A. King. I am president of The Dustin Inman Society, which is a Georgia-based coalition of Americans of many backgrounds and ethnicities dedicated to educating the public on the consequences of illegal immigration.

I am grateful for the opportunity to provide testimony today regarding the recently passed Senate bill addressing our borders, the illegal immigration crisis in America and the impact of the Senate legislation on the American workforce.

In an effort to make clear my own level of concern with the illegal immigration crisis in our nation, I would like to make it known that three years ago I put aside my own business and have exhausted my personal savings in a full-time effort to educate myself and others on the issue.

As someone who has chosen to be active in a grass-roots effort to encourage my government to secure our borders and equally apply American law, I am in constant contact with countless American citizens on the issue – including immigrants who have obeyed American laws in their effort to join the American family.

My adopted sister is a real, legal, immigrant who came from Korea.

The thousands of concerned Americans who have contacted me over the years share a common theme in their questions, observations and complaints. They ask why employers are allowed to hire illegal labor in violation of existing laws – and why a nation that has put men on the moon and has built, and maintains, more than 46,000 miles of interstate highways has not used that expertise to stop illegal entries into their country.

Most Americans are aware of the “one time” amnesty of 1986. They see that it did nothing to secure our borders, end illegal immigration or discourage employers from hiring illegal aliens. Despite the concerted effort of many in the Senate to label S 2611 as anything but amnesty-again, most Americans with whom I speak understand it to be exactly that.

Ignoring the climate of fear that has been created to intimidate them, American citizens are coming out of the shadows and asking why they are required to obey American laws while many employers, bankers and people with no legal right to be in the U.S. suffer no punishment for not doing so.

I have no acceptable answers for them. I sadly admit that I find myself asking similar questions.

For many of us, the new American Dream is to have borders as secure as are Mexico’s and immigration and employment laws that are as enthusiastically enforced.

Absent their ability to speak here, I respectfully ask that today I be regarded as a humble voice of the millions of Americans who reject the senate bill and its intent in its entirety.

Time constraints prohibit even a brief outline of the many flaws in the Senate bill. Among those mistakes, one of the most brilliant examples of the senate’s failure to protect the American worker is the provision that would effectively expand the Davis Bacon Act of 1931 to allow foreign workers to be paid a different – and higher – “prevailing wage” than Americans who work at the same job.

While most Americans – including myself – are not experts on Davis Bacon, we find it easy to understand the injustice involved if the effect of the senate bill would be to “legalize” illegal labor and then provide an avenue whereby that labor then be rewarded with pay and benefits not available to all American workers.

Further, most Americans understand that the constant reference to “temporary” or “guest workers” in the senate bill amounts to an attempt to redefine very basic words in the English language.

Not many of us consider a worker as “temporary” if that worker is offered a path to citizenship with permanent resident status at the end of the allotted time on his work visa. I have many American friends who have been employed in countries all over the world as guest workers. All of them report the laws that demand their timely departure from the host nation at the prescribed date are vigorously enforced.

None of these former guest workers were offered citizenship in the nations in which they temporarily worked.

Guest workers, by definition, and if indeed truly required, should be made to clearly understand that the period of employment in the United States is finite and that bringing their families and setting up permanent residence is not part of the bargain.

American taxpayers should not be required to subsidize the low wage labor.

We do not have time here today for me to share the many stories from citizens who report instances of their wages decreasing because of competition from illegal labor and the willingness of employers hiring that labor in violation of existing law while bypassing Americans as job applicants.

Sadly, I am personally acquainted with Americans who have lost their family businesses because they refused to violate immigration and labor laws and could not compete with others in their trade who lacked the integrity to make similar decisions.

Mr. Charles Shafer of Lawrenceville, Georgia is but one example. Mr. Shafer is a second generation framing contractor – a carpenter – who has declared bankruptcy and endured years of unemployment due to competing contractors hiring illegal labor who will work for considerably less than he was earning ten years ago.

With his permission, I attach to my written testimony Mr. Shafer’s account of his experiences and ask that it be noted that it was written more than two years ago.

I also submit a written account from Mr. Jeff Hermann of Oxford, Georgia who operates a pine straw/landscaping business. Mr. Hermann has lost considerable business and earnings to illegal labor and has been forced to apply for welfare as a result. Mr. Hermann has agreed to having his story become record as well.

Mr. Shafer and Mr. Hermann share very similar stories and are but two of thousands that have come to my attention from Americans who are working for a better life in their own country.

None of them sees the Senate bill as a remedy to their plight.

I am acquainted with many tax-paying Americans who have been denied employment because they do not speak Spanish.

I have never spoken to anyone who can recount examples of American wages increasing because of immigration, either legal or illegal.

Most Americans understand that low-skilled jobs in America pay many times more than the same jobs in most of the world. The American people recognize that fact to be a magnet that draws illegal immigration into the United States. No reasonable person I am aware of blames anyone for wanting to live and work in the United States, just as no one I am aware of is of the opinion that we can continue to allow any worldwide “willing worker” to replace Americans in our job market.

We also understand that if it is possible to verify a credit card transaction at our local department store, it is also possible to verify employment eligibility in the United States without putting an undue burden on American employers.

As president of the Dustin Inman Society, I have enrolled in the Basic Pilot Program. I am a program administrator and have used that system to verify my own eligibility to work in the United States. Until a better system is designed, it is my educated observation that one immediate goal for Congress should be to make Basic Pilot verification mandatory and increase funding to do so.

Please allow me to conclude by saying that with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, we were promised that Americans would have secure borders and equal protection under the law in the workplace. Not many of us are willing to remain silent while similar promises are made without real enforcement teeth in whatever new legislation is made into law.

I respectfully implore you to do all that is possible from your elected office to secure American borders, restore the rule of law to our nation and create a state of fairness to American workers.

Remembering the amnesty of 1986, it is my belief that the Senate legislation would accomplish none of these things.

Thank you Congressmen.

I welcome any questions.

D.A. King
American Citizen
Marietta, Ga.

Written account of Mr. Charles Shafer, carpenter, Lawrenceville Georgia.
Submitted with permission.

To be attached to D.A. King testimony.

My family has been in the residential construction business in one form or another for over 5 generations now. In the past 2 generations of my family most of us (my dad, 3 brothers, 6 uncles, and several cousins) have been residential framing contractors-carpenters.

As recently as 5-6 years ago we were the most sought after framers in the business. Our reputations preceded us as being the best of the best. Now we are all either unemployed or are struggling to survive economically.

I started my own business in 1988. Until that point I had worked for my father mostly. We have always had so much work at times we would turn work down.

I felt I had a very successful and lucrative business until late 1998 and the beginning of the year 1999. Then around the end of 1999 and the start of 2000 the calls slowed down and most of us were not getting as many from the builders whom we had worked for in the past as well as no calls at all from any new builders.

I remember it was around the end of 1999 it seemed on a daily basis someone would come by the job and ask if I needed help or if I knew anyone who did. They always made the statement even then “I can have as much help as you need here in the morning”. Also I would like to state at that time I was working 2 legal immigrants with proper documentation, social security numbers, a driver’s license, etc. (so I believed)

I tried every thing I could think of for the next year or so to save my business and career. At the time I even tried not only getting out and riding around trying to meet new people, leaving business cards on job sites, but also sending mailings to almost every builder listed in the Atlanta Home Builders Association announcing my availability and desire to work. These efforts were basically fruitless.

Every where I went I saw more and more what appeared to be Mexican crews and less and less American crews doing the work. For a short period of time thereafter, about a year or so, instead of the most of my work being all new work it became more in the field of remodeling. That eventually went away also.

During the year 2000 the phone calls started slowing down and eventually stopped. Even though the residential construction in Atlanta was obviously ongoing at an unbelievable pace I could not find work. Whenever I did find a new subdivision starting and some one to talk to I was told I was the wrong color and I have been told I would not work for the wages they paid. At the wages they were offering, they were right, there was no way to compete.

There’s not any way then or now in my mind to compete with illegal labor. The work I was offered, when I was offered work was at such a reduced standard wage, less than half of what the same work paid only a few years prior, a person could not remain legal and still endure all the labor cost or insurance cost or taxes associated with trying to run a proper business.

I even tried for a year or so to employ a mixture of Americans and Mexicans.
Then all Mexicans. It doesn’t take long for them to become Americanized. By this I’m referring to the fact the only reason they wanted to work for me instead of one of their own was because it did not take them long to come to the conclusion an American employer would pay them a higher wage than a Mexican employer. Then I became aware that they were all illegally here in the U.S. This resulted in my having to pay all associated taxes on their behalf. That’s when I decided it was not worth it anymore and basically gave up. I wasn’t getting any phone calls for work and you surely couldn’t ride around and find any work. The illegals had it all.

Even though I have never announced to anyone in this field of my intentions to quit, to this date I have only had 2 phone calls for work in the past 3 years or so. These came from people I had done personal homes for in the past not from any builders. More or less I have tried to explain to them I had retired, not by choice, but because I could not compete against an ever increasing immigrant population.

I used to have to be very careful when I was talking to someone not to use the “illegal” terminology. Whenever I did people would respond with an ignorant comment to the effect these people were not illegal and I would respond by stating I had personally met several hundred these past few years and not a one were legal.

Since post 9-11 I have tried repeatedly to find work. My families work (the one or two remaining) is so sparse they can offer little or no help and still survive themselves. At almost 51 years old, even though I feel I have many good years left, no one I have met wants to employ me.

I have applied for many Superintendent positions to no avail. Hardly a response for so long, I finally gave that avenue up also. Why not I often ask myself. I have so much experience and knowledge about residential construction from start to finish.

It is, believe it or not, almost understandable to me because of the availability of such a younger work force now. Plus I don’t speak Spanish. I also usually know more about the business, codes etc., than the people I have tried to go to work for and I think that may have intimidated them some.

We as Americans will work and have worked with the Mexicans. It’s a fact they will not return the favor. Do you know of any American who works for a Mexican in the construction business? I don’t.

I was taught from day-one a home is usually the largest investment a person makes in life. It was instilled into my natural behavior from childhood to do the very best job possible for a person and not to cut corners or to walk away from an error or mistake. The majority of my relatives had the same raising and that’s what made us once upon a time the most desirable in the residential construction field. Now this business seems to be only about profit margins and how fast you can finish a job. Not many seem to care about quality anymore.

I have continually searched for a job and would now accept one even if its a floor sweeping job. But I have come to the conclusion that I am unemployable especially since 9-11 and with all the illegal immigrants available.

We as a family of 5, a daughter 14, a daughter 10, and a son 5, have barely survived these past few years. My wife and I filed bankruptcy last year. We had already refinanced our modest home which we only owed 3 years on….. trying to survive.

I am a proud man even to this day. I have absolutely refused any hand outs in life and will not accept one now.

Please understand residential framing/construction was to be a career I have looked forward to since childhood. It was a dream job for me even though the work was hard and the hours long. The pay while it lasted was great. We lived the American dream….if we wanted something we got it and got up the next day went to work and paid for it.

I can’t imagine what I will do in life now that the illegal immigrants are present in such enormous numbers in today’s society. I am adamant I will figure it out, how and which way to go; right now I’m not sure. I’m just not willing to give up just yet. My family surely deserves more than what illegal immigration has brought into their lives.

If you have any more questions or need anything else please feel free to contact me.

Charles Shafer, Jr.

Lawrenceville, Ga.

Written account of Mr. Jeff Hermann, landscaper of Oxford, Georgia

To be attached to testimony of D.A. King

My name is Jeff Hermann. My partner and I run a small landscaping
business called “The Pinestraw Guys”. We’ve been at it now for almost eight
years. Our work is fairly labor-intensive, as it involves spreading the
pinestraw in the decorative ‘islands’ of peoples’ homes and businesses.

When we started the business, we didn’t have any customers, so we’d load
up the truck and knock on doors all day looking for jobs. It was tough
at first, but as time went by we grew. After two years we had enough
customers to stop knocking on doors and hire someone to help us.

Our customers loved our work and referred their friends and neighbors to us.
Life was getting pretty good. We hired a few more guys, and the business
continued to grow.

That’s all changed now.

About two and a half years ago we started noticing a drop-off in our business.
Several of our accounts had stopped calling. When we called them to find out why, they said simply that we had been under-bid by a competitor. I
had a hard time believing that because we operate on a very small
mark-up to begin with. Now, I’m not a bashful man by any means, so I
called my competition and asked them how they could do it so cheap.
“Simple,” was the reply, “I hired some Mexicans down at the Home Depot.
They’re illegals, so they work really cheap.”

I know of several landscape contractors who now do the same thing. They
pay these illegal aliens 5 or 6 bucks an hour, cash under the table of
course, and pocket the difference. Well, MOST of the difference. The
rest they give to their customers in the form of lower prices. That’s
all good for the contractor and the customer, but not so good for me.
Suddenly I’m in competition with someone who’s willing to do this work
for minimum wage or less.

By last fall my income had dropped over 50%, and I had to apply for food
stamps in order to feed my kids. I also applied for Medicaid because I
could no longer afford my health insurance. I qualified for the food
stamps (Thank God) but my income, less than $200 a week by then, was too
high to get Medicaid. While talking to my caseworker about this, she let
it slip that if I had been an illegal alien, I would have qualified for
‘emergency’ Medicaid and been covered by it that day. Needless to say,
my jaw almost hit the floor.

Let me re-cap what I’ve been through because of illegal immigration.

My business has been cut in half.

I’ve had to lay off American workers.

I can no longer afford health insurance.

I’ve had to take welfare.

And to top it off, I can’t even get Medicaid.

I’m not asking for handouts, I’m asking for that ‘level playing field’
our President loves to espouse. Secure the border. Deport illegal aliens.
Enforce the law. Give me my life back.

Please.

Jeff Hermann
Oxford, Ga.

Personal information/ other information as requested.

D.A. King

I have been studying the consequences of our unsecured borders and the resulting illegal immigration for more than four years and have been regarded as an expert on the issue on various network television broadcasts including the CNN, CBS, PBS and FOX networks as well as many nationwide radio shows including NPR that address the issue.

In 2003, I put down my own insurance business of twenty-five years and began to organize public rallies, to lobby lawmakers and educate people on the issue of illegal immigration at my own expense. I have spent our life savings, sold my stocks and refinanced my house to do so.

I have been to the U.S. – Mexican border three times in the last two years and watched as brave Border Patrol agents risk their lives to guard those borders and then watched with disgust as the illegal aliens who escape apprehension there are hired here in Georgia and then demand the rights and privileges of citizens and legal residents.

I founded the Dustin Inman Society in 2005 in an attempt to raise public awareness on facts surrounding illegal immigration and I write a periodic column on the topic in the Marietta Daily Journal.

The Dustin Inman Society is named for a friend’s son who lost his life in 2000 because of an automobile crash involving a driver who is an illegal alien.

In my Marietta home of twenty-two years, the only house I have ever owned, I have lived across the street from people that I now know were in the U.S. illegally. The number of persons living in that three-bedroom house at times numbered as many as eighteen.

Having spoken out in the demand that American borders be secured as is required by the Constitution, that American law be equally and fully applied and that the English language be the common language of our nation, I have been called a variety of derogatory names and labeled “un-American” by the many who profit from the crime of illegal immigration and employment.

I am a former Marine [1970-1971] and vividly remember being promised no-cost medical care for the rest of my life as a condition of my military service. In 2004, my application to the Veterans Administration for that medical care was denied due to a means test that began in 2003. I have watched since then as my tax dollars go to provide federally mandated no-cost medical care to people with no legal right to be in the United States – without any mention of such a means test.

I am qualified to testify on the effects of illegal immigration because literally thousands of Americans come to me with stories of injustice in their lives caused by that organized crime and ask me to tell their stories to elected officials who they trust to remedy those cases of inequality under the law.

I would like to respectfully note that I have reached the point at which I truly wish I did not know what I have learned.
D.A. King

Cynthia Tucker wrote a personal attack on me in last week’s AJC.

You can read it here from a different newspaper.

My response letter was published yesterday, along with nine others from the ever shrinking number of AJC readers.

My letter below, with a link to the other nine, which are posted below.

Thanks to those who sent Comrade Tucker a piece of your mind.

She needs exactly that.

From her perch high atop Mount Mindless on the far, far left, Cynthia Tucker’s “invective-filled” personal attack on me is evidence of her obvious desperation and anguish resulting from the knowledge that American voices are being heard on the national illegal immigration disaster.

Illegals wave the flag of Mexico while screaming “Los Angeles is ours!” They carry signs demanding “Amnesty now!” and “This is our continent!” Nearly five years after Sept. 11, millions of people from all over the world continue to illegally cross our unsecured borders every year. English is an optional language in Georgia.

Unlike Tucker, most Americans regard these facts as bad things.

One can only imagine the sleepless nights Tucker must suffer knowing that we even have borders — or how she must secretly regard the brave Border Patrol agents who risk their lives to guard them.

I wear Tucker’s dishonest attack as a badge of honor.

Again.

D.A. KING, Marietta

Nine other letters published in the AJC yesterday:

Cultural change can’t be mandatory

Cynthia Tucker’s column is irrelevant to the issue of illegal immigration, and her inclusion of insults toward D.A. King is irrelevant to her column. What, pray tell, does the topic of cultural change have to do with the issue of illegal immigration? It is ludicrous to say that those who oppose illegal immigration and support enforcement of our immigration laws oppose cultural change.

Why should anyone embrace cultural change forced upon them by people who come here knowingly in violation of our immigration laws and take advantage of services paid for by those of us whose culture they are here to change? Next time I see an illegal immigrant, I suppose I should open up my wallet, hand him $50 and thank him for coming to the United States and changing my culture. After all, he’s really doing me a favor.

My wife is a legal immigrant from Mexico who is now a citizen of the United States. She resents the attitude that illegal immigrants somehow have a right to be in this country, or that they have a right to services such as health care and education paid for by others.

ROBERT COZINE, Decatur

Part of one recipe

Other than the Native Americans, every American came from immigrants. Whether our ancestors came over on the Mayflower, arrived here as an indentured servant, came to escape Nazi rule, came over on a slave ship, arrived in a tiny boat from Cuba, etc., we are all from immigrants.

People need to remember that America was built as a “melting pot.”

ROBIN K. WALDEN, Ellijay

Majority favors U.S. crackdown

Why is Cynthia Tucker so angry at D.A. King? Did he do something to personally offend her, or does she have a dislike for anyone who wants our borders secured?

I read a different poll than the one referenced by Tucker, a poll that’s more in line with King’s viewpoint. In a recent Zogby poll, 69 percent said the tougher House version of the immigration bill was a good or very good idea.

I believe it only fair that you publish King’s response to Tucker’s personal attack. Better yet, I would pay good money to see a live debate between them.

JILL SEYMOUR, Mableton

Europe faces similar problems

I agree with Cynthia Tucker’s plea for reason and decency in the debate about immigration, but reason is being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the volume of illegal immigration. It’s not just a problem for the United States. It’s all over Europe as well. The riots in France last winter give a glimpse of what can happen.

President Bush is trying to get help from his friend, the president of Mexico. That’s a waste of time. He’s asking for something that’s not in Mexico’s interest. The illegal migrants are providing a sizable contribution to the Mexican economy.

Language is a key part of the problem. Migrants put an extra burden on overwhelmed social services because they can’t speak English.

A common language is an essential part of the glue that holds this country together. It is an important advantage to Americans that English is the lingua franca of our times.

LARRY HYMO, Athens

Want to stay? Learn language

The rosy picture that Cynthia Tucker attempts to paint of illegal immigration in the story of her niece, Irene, is marred by one fact: Irene’s grandfather, a U.S. resident for 23 years, is “less than fluent” in English.

I have encountered numerous Hispanics living here for many years who learn little or no English. This failure to assimilate linguistically is unprecedented in our history, and attempts to minimize the problem are folly.

For example, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that 85 percent of 911 calls in Gwinnett County needing translators are Hispanics. The language requirement the president and others are calling for is an absolute must.

WESLEY ROSS, Augusta

Newcomers not all created equal

I see that Cynthia Tucker’s journalistic prowess and command of the language far exceed that which her sister’s father-in-law possesses; but her entire article is based on two flawed premises.

> Segregation is comparable to resistance to illegal immigration: Upon examination of the Constitution, we have found that both racial segregation and illegitimate entry to this country are illegal.

> Mexican immigrants are no different than European immigrants: No, Ms. Tucker, the difference is that the vast majority of Europeans came here legally.

DAVID D. DALY, Annandale, Va.

Services stretched to breaking point

Why does the left have to play the race card on illegal immigration? If the people coming in overwhelming droves across the border were white Canadians rather that brown Mexicans, most of us would feel the same way.

There is a reason nations have immigration laws: so that it is done in moderation and fairly, where everyone gets in line and waits their turn. This protects legal citizens from the problems that have already occurred in the Southwest and California: hospitals being bankrupted, social services stretched to the limit with benefit fraud, and schools struggling to serve large numbers of illegal immigrants who can’t speak English.

RONALD HOFFMAN, Sandy Springs

Tucker fan flees

How dare Cynthia Tucker call D.A. King a racist!

Funny how I am Hispanic, and King and I are friends. King is a wonderful and good American.

I used to love to read Tucker’s columns, but now I hate them. Illegal aliens and their supporters carried the Mexican flag at their rallies, and only because Americans fumed did they switch to American flags.

Tucker’s anti-American views are disgusting.

PRISCILLA ESPINOZA, Nuevo, Calif.

King, others want their country back

I have been to several rallies where D.A. King has spoken, and he is no more racist than Cynthia Tucker.

Like King, there are 280 million other American citizens who are tired of having their voices ignored. We are tired of having protesters march in the streets, screaming in Spanish that they demand citizenship, and having the AJC sympathize with lawbreakers simply because they work hard.

MICHELLE BROCK, Lawrenceville