Today<\/p>\n
Billy Inman hasn\u2019t received a Father\u2019s Day card in 17 years, after his son, Dustin, was killed when an immigrant in the country illegally drove into the family car at a red light while the Inmans were on their way to the north Georgia Mountains in 2000.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The years he\u2019s been gone has) been a year longer than my son was alive,\u201d Billy Inman said. Dustin Inman was 16 years old when he was killed.<\/p>\n
Kathy Inman, Billy Inman\u2019s wife, suffered a severe brain injury that\u2019s left her in a wheelchair and requires her to visit doctors multiple times a week for her ailments, he said.<\/p>\n
This week marks the 17th anniversary of his son\u2019s death, he said, with little change for his wife\u2019s medical condition and capturing the man who\u2019s responsible, Inman said. But it also marks the anniversary of another day, when Inman said he started to see a little change in the problem he\u2019s fought against for almost two decades.<\/p>\n
On June 16, 2015, Inman said he sat and watched, along with other Americans, as Donald Trump announced his run for the 2016 presidential election and condemned Mexico for allowing its illegal immigrants to pour into the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mouth just flew open,\u201d Inman said.<\/p>\n
Illegal immigration is an issue, he said, where his concerns were ignored, despite his own experience and attempts to raise awareness.<\/p>\n
Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, the man charged with Dustin Inman\u2019s death, is accused of slamming his car into the Inmans in Ellijay at 60 mph and fleeing from authorities while being transported to the hospital for his own injuries. He\u2019s believed to have fled to Mexico, Billy Inman said, and a letter Inman received from the Department of Justice last year states the Mexican government will not extradite its citizens to the United States for vehicular homicide charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still a problem and everybody is jumping on Trump for doing this, but this is what got him elected,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel it in my heart, this is what got Donald Trump elected as president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every year since his son\u2019s death, Inman said he\u2019s spoken with politicians about illegal immigration, who always give their condolences but fail to act. Under Trump\u2019s administration, he said he\u2019s finally starting to see progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did it take Donald Trump to do something about this problem?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Inman said he understands why someone would want to come to the U.S., and sympathized that the process was too long and complicated. He has no ill will against those who come here legally and isn\u2019t racist, he said, but the country shouldn\u2019t be a sanctuary for those who reside here illegally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s too many people passing the buck and turning a blind eye,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked what people could do on a local level to help with the problem, Inman said they can speak with their vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never voted until this happened,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause I feel like politics is a club.\u201d<\/p>\n
His desire for justice has connected Inman with several politicians in hopes to solve illegal immigration, Inman said. The Dustin Inman Society, a coalition formed to secure American borders and fight against illegal immigration, was named in honor of Dustin Inman and led by D.A. King.<\/p>\n
Through his efforts, Inman said he and his wife have been invited to Washington, D.C., four times, including the inauguration for President Trump in January. However, Kathy Inman\u2019s health was not in good condition for travel until April, he said<\/p>\n
The Inmans visited leadership members of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including Thomas Homan, the acting director of the agency, along with seven other families whose relatives had died at the hands of illegal immigrants, Inman said.
\n\u201cI think I talked with (the other families) for years on the computer and I never got to meet these people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was truly an honor.\u201d<\/p>\n
A GoFundMe account to help the Inmans with their medical bills was created in December 2016. So far, they\u2019ve raised $3,010 of their $10,000 goal. Billy Inman said the funds have helped him pay for his wife\u2019s caretakers, who cost somewhere between $14 to $25 an hour while he himself only makes $16 an hour and works three days a week as a truck driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to make some sort of normal life,\u201d he said. \u201cI try to make the best of my life and thank God and make it to the end of the month.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last Father\u2019s Day present he received from his son is a Jeff Foxworthy \u201cYou might be a redneck \u2026\u201d T-shirt, Inman said, which hangs on a wall in his home. His dreams, he said, of camping up in the north Georgia mountains and teaching grandchildren to hunt and fish are shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like such a failure,\u201d he said for not being able to capture Dustin\u2019s killer.<\/p>\n
The only thing that will put this issue to rest, is the capture of Harrell-Gonzalez, Inman said. He\u2019s been unable to turn the next page of his life, he said, and move on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the man is held accountable, I can turn this page,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I wish what happened to my son wouldn\u2019t happen to anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make a contribution to help the Inmans afford their medical expenses, visit www.gofundme.com\/help-billy-and-kathy-inman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cherokee Tribune Ledger Today Local father mourns loss of son, says he has hope for future with Trump Billy Inman hasn\u2019t received a Father\u2019s Day card in 17 years, after his son, Dustin, was killed when an immigrant in the country illegally drove into the family car at a red light while the Inmans were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9198"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9217,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198\/revisions\/9217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}