In all the presidential debates, in all the political commercials, in all the talking points, you don’t really hear much about immigration, or more accurately, the issue of illegal aliens and what to do about the flow of people across our border with Mexico. You may hear a soundbite here or there. Just about every candidate will use phrases like “immigration reform,” or “secure our borders” or a dozen others. What you won’t hear is in-depth, detailed discussion of what this really means? You won’t see finger pointing because the fingers point to everyone. You will not hear anyone say that if elected they will get the fence built. You will not hear national politicians pledge to enforce our laws, punish employers who break it and deport illegal aliens.
The reason you won’t hear much about these issues is because no one wants to lose the Hispanic vote. You won’t hear much because everyone’s position, on the national level, at least, is basically the same: amnesty (code word: immigration reform) is coming, so do not fight it too hard!
Well, that ain’t necessarily so. Last year, a grassroots uprising stopped a bipartisan effort to grant amnesty for illegal aliens. That uprising convinced our Georgia Senators Chambliss and Isakson to change their position from one of support to a vote against the legislation. which side of the issue they had better be on if they wanted to get re-elected. Both of them had supported the Bush Administration and the Republican plan for amnesty.
There are those for whom the fight goes on daily. It will go on every year in Congress until one side or the other is the victor. D. A. King is one of those determined to win. D. A. founded The Dustin Inman Society after a 16 year-old boy, Dustin Inman, was killed in a automobile accident with a driver, an illegal alien, who had legally obtained a North Carolina driver’s license, even though he was here illegally. Sure, similar accidents occur every day that do not involve illegal alien drivers. Nevertheless, it is equally true that if an illegal alien could not get a driver’s license, Dustin Inman would not have died on the day he did.
If the issue on the national level is on hold until after the election, the fight on the local level only intensifies. The fight has become a grassroots effort to do what the national government won’t do: enforce our immigration laws. In this interview D. A. King emphasizes the effort in Georgia and elsewhere to get local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration laws and undertake efforts to deport illegal aliens.
In 1996 Congress passed Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act which allows the authority to enforce our federal immigration laws to be formally delegated to local law enforcement agencies. Thus, if the federal government won’t enforce the laws, communities that want to do so can obtain that power by compliance with Section 287(g).
Not all communities and law enforcement agencies participate in the 287(g) partnership with the federal government. Some have tried, without success, which is difficult to understand. The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office does.
On the state level, in 2006 the General Assembly passed the Georgia Security and Compliance Act. The Act requires Georgia employers working on public contracts to verify legal status of applicants using the E-Verify database provided by the federal government. It requires the Georgia Commissioner of Public Safety to establish a 287(g) program for Georgia, requires law enforcement officers to make a reasonable effort to determine immigration status of individuals in their custody and to report problems to Homeland Security, and a variety of other requirements intended to deal effectively with the issue of illegal aliens in Georgia.
Some of you may not agree with D. A. I didn’t–at first. In fact, the reason I first interviewed him was to tell him that I thought it was an exaggerated, inflammatory issue, inspired by Republican conservative to get out the vote in 2006.
Well, D. A. changed my thinking by giving me facts, not soundbites. It is not a racial issue, it is an economic issue, and more importantly an issue of law and sovereignty. As D. A. points out, Mexico enforces its immigration laws to the maximum. Why don’t we? For that you will need to think and do some research if you want to find the answer on your own. Check out Numbers USA, GrassFire.org, and The Dustin Inman Society.
If you don’t have time to do the research, I will tell you the simple answer: Corporate power and cheap labor. It is the business community that wants what illegal aliens have to offer, unlimited cheap labor, at the expense of the American worker. The ultimate goal is the free flow of labor across our borders. In the 1990s NAFTA exported our manufacturing plants, leaving us with jobs that could not be outsourced. In this decade the effort has been to outsource the labor, though illegal employees, for the remaining jobs.
Don’t believe me? Your problem, not mine.
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