Posted on 09/13/2005 7:32:11 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
Associated Press
ATLANTA - There will be no welcome mat in Georgia next year for illegal immigrants if Republicans in the Georgia Senate have their way. A bill they are backing as a top priority would block taxpayer-funded benefits for individuals who are not citizens.
"We don't want Georgia to be a magnet for people to come here simply to live off taxpayer-funded services," said Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, R-Savannah.
"We cannot afford to take care of everybody," Johnson said in a news conference with Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, whose bill to prohibit benefits to illegal immigrants is pending in the upper chamber.
"Our priorities should be on Georgia's neediest citizens ... (and) our neighbors, our friends who are hurting - the evacuees from the Gulf," Johnson said. "Those should all be a higher priority than somebody who has broken the law and come to this country illegally."
The legislation would require anyone receiving taxpayer-funded benefits in Georgia to prove he or she is a Georgia resident and a U.S. citizen or is legally present in the United States.
Johnson said money the state spends on illegal immigrants is money that doesn't go to Georgia citizens "or even people like the evacuees that are here legally that need our help."
But no one knows precisely how many undocumented immigrants there are in Georgia or what state services, if any, they are draining.
Citizenship already is a requirement for some of the state's costliest and most critical social programs - food stamps, Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids, and federal law requires states to educate the children of non-citizens through high school.
However, the measure potentially affects higher education in Georgia because citizenship is not required to attend one of Georgia's public colleges or universities.
Rep. DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, the House Democratic Leader, called the proposed legislation an emotional red herring.
"They are raising an issue which has an emotional element but it's yet to be seen how real a problem that is in Georgia," he said. "This is obviously a measure to take the attention of Georgia voters off the bad things they have already done to Georgia."
Sen. Sam Zamarripa, D-Atlanta, said the measure will only accelerate the black market in false ID papers and documents.
"If you really want to fix this, you need to go audit the biggest employers in the state. You're going to discover inappropriate documentation for people that work. If they want to stop it, find the people that hire people.," he said.
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There will be no welcome mat in Georgia next year for illegal immigrants if Republicans in the Georgia Senate have their way.A bill they are backing as a top priority would block taxpayer-funded benefits for individuals who are not citizens.
Take note, worthless Texas Legislature!!!
"Take note, worthless Texas Legislature!!!"
==============================
Hey - has anybody seen the Mexican Army running loose down around the Alamo any this week?
(fist pumping in air, the usual drill)
this is the right legislative course but it must be accompanied by the correct PR strategy.
Good for GA, a state which respects its own laws. Might even consider moving there...
YES!!!
I love Georgia!!
Depends on whether they also see that the law is enforced.
We have laws in place. With the encouragement of Mr. Bush they are not enforced.
Note to Georgia Senate - don't make the mistake we did in Arizona by not spelling out exactly which programs are targeted.
Our voters thought we were denying all state-level benefits, and our Attorney General whittled that down to 5 programs.
Its about time, that they got off of their dead a$$es and did something about the problem. Now if the other states would follow suit. Hello California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, etc., et., etc.
"The Katrina disaster has the potential to shed light on poverty, and illegal immigration. As blacks cry foul, and claim they have been left behind, mexicans and other illegals are doing rather well. Why is this? Our government claims that illegals take jobs other Americans don't want."==============================================
From the Secretary of Labor's mouth to your ears . .
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao: "There will be a huge construction boom in the wake of Katrina."
Please, Gog, let this be the beginning of an awareness and a tidal wave of action against these invaders to my country.......
Awwwwwwwwww, S*it.
Now, even MORE are coming to belly up to the trough in Oregon.
DAMN!
LOL, (but our liberals have put out the welcome ,at :^( ...)
They are in Texas, USA as you read this.
A bill they are backing as a top priority would block taxpayer-funded benefits for individuals who are not citizens.
------
A sweet sound. But tragically this will not happen in California...since the far-left liberal legislature would NEVER GIVE UP A SINGLE VOTE, including all the illegals...it is all about power.
...Take note, worthless Texas Legislature!!!...
Think of the money they could free up. For the children...
Until they go after businesses that are hiring illegals, this won't change a thing. Many of the illegals in Georgia are not going for welfare but for textile industry jobs. Georgia Republicans don't have the stones to go after the businesses that hire them.
D
The idea obviously is to get these illegals off welfare and get them to work...
Think they might be getting the idea that people are pissed?
If they are illegal, they don't deserve squat!
If Texas denied benefits to illegals, Robin Hood would be a moot point. Property taxes could be cut too.
That would be nice. I wonder how much the illegals are actually costing us? It's got to be a huge number.
I agree with that...
Since welfare only hurts the populations that receive it one would think the clamor would be to get georgia's own citizens off it, rather than illegals. Quite heartless actually, the priorities... :)
http://www.neoperspectives.com/summary.htm
Can it be...are the Republicans finally taking a stand...?
Hey - has anybody seen the Mexican Army running loose down around the Alamo any this week?
To me, that was an outrage, that they were allowed on our soil
Why are you offended when other military forces are here to help with Katrina? If a Federales offered you bottled water and you were dehydrating, would you refuse?
This will spur a good, healthy debate. I imagine five or six other states will follow suit, if the law is not struck down by the activist judiciary.
I notice that Perry and rest of the clowns in Austin won't say word one way or another about illegal immigration.
Wrong, me hearty bucko. The Republicans might be really sorta thinking about maybe getting tough on Illegal Aliens at some time in the near future, if their colleagues from the other party across the aisle can work out a deal with them and if they can avoid the "racist" thing and still get that garden wall built for cheap and have a nanny.
But, just maybe enough Black Democrats, which I understand are not in short supply in GA and the rest of RhettButlerLand, have noticed that too many of their constituents lolligag about the streets, go to prison, and try to live on drug traffic, and ever-diminishing welfare, while Mexicans are eating their lunch?
"But, just maybe enough Black Democrats, which I understand are not in short supply in GA and the rest of RhettButlerLand, have noticed that too many of their constituents lolligag about the streets, go to prison, and try to live on drug traffic, and ever-diminishing welfare, while Mexicans are eating their lunch?"
=======================
We shouldn't have to rely on Democrats to repel the illegal alien invasion should we?
There should be enough Americans left within the Republican Party having sufficient moral character, love of country, and desire for preservation of same to marshal more than enough forces to reduce the invasion to nothing.
"I notice that Perry and rest of the clowns in Austin won't say word one way or another about illegal immigration."
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That bunch has not dissappointed - they now have welcomed with open arms the Mexican Army onto American territory proper for 'assistance.'
Why would we need their "help"? We are a nation of 280 million people. Take a map of the US. Mark a circle around the damaged areas the diameter of which is the parameter of destruction. Now look at the mass of the rest of the country in proportion.
Looks like a fly speck on a parking lot, doesn't it?
Tell me again why we need some military representatives from a corrupt and poverty striken hell hole here. 
"I notice that Perry and rest of the clowns in Austin won't say word one way or another about illegal immigration."
May. 20, 2005
Gov. Perry Responds to Congresswoman Jackson Lee Concerning the Minuteman Project
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today sent the following letter to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in response to her query regarding the Minutemen Project:
May 20, 2005
The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee
U.S. Representative, District 18
U.S. House of Representatives
2435 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congresswoman Jackson Lee:
Thank you for your letter about the Minuteman Project and border enforcement.
As you know, I did not invite the Minuteman Project to Texas. Nor do I, or any other elected official, have the authority to prevent law-abiding citizens from traveling to, from or within this state.
With that said, I fully understand and can appreciate the frustration that many Texans and others across the nation have with illegal immigration, its potential impact on our national security and the unacceptable burden it is placing on taxpayers, and state and local criminal justice, education, and health care systems. A recent report issued by the Pew Hispanic Center found that there has been a 23 percent increase in illegal immigration in the past four years. It is estimated that more than 10 million undocumented immigrants now live in our country with 1.4 million in Texas alone. The continued flow of a significant number of undocumented immigrants into the United States is not acceptable, especially in the post-9/11 era.
Border control and enforcement of the laws against illegal immigration are the responsibilities of the federal government. As a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, you are in a position to address this important matter. The federal government can and must do more to close the border to illegal immigration. Until that happens, these kinds of citizen-initiated efforts likely will be the result. If you want to send the Minutemen home, I urge you to make sure we have enough federal agents on the border to secure it.
Sincerely,
Rick Perry
Governor
They are listening!
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
Any links to Governor Perry's letter in #38?
I would like to see some sort of audit of the programs that supposedly require citizenship. I don't believe that there are no illegal aliens availing themselves of those programs. And I am almost positive that there are illegal alien children who get not only a free education but free lunch and breakfast at school.
susie
Are you suggesting that without the Mexican Army we couldn't take care of the Katrina mess?
susie
Blah, PR strategy.
How about this: Georgia welcomes all people of all nationalities and races who are in our great county legally. Georgia will not allow those here illegally to continue to suck off the teet of the taxpayers of our fair state.
I'm THRILLED to hear this.
Wrong. They deserve a plane ride home with a zip-line and parachute.
Somebody tell em they're wasting their time. A fed judge will strike down any legislation they write.
Nope, only that we shouldn't turn away help. I think too many Freepers let their legitimate concern about illegal immigration deteriorate into a hatred of anything Mexican (with the exception of the food). Why object to Mexican soldiers and not the Canadians armed forces that are here?
I didn't object. I simply asked if we could do it without help. I don't blame people for having reservations about having the army of a country that clearly encourages their citizens to flaunt our laws and is uncooperative about border and crime issues. That doesn't mean anyone hates everything Mexican. It means we don't trust them (the Mexican govt) very much. That's not hate. That's common sense.
susie
Oh, and I would like to add that I think it's time we stopped throwing around the word hate. Like racism, it's way overused. It's losing it's sting.
susie
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