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Opponents of illegals fire back with rallies of their own

By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/15/06

Local residents who say they are motivated by the recent show of force among Hispanics throughout the nation and here in Atlanta plan two separate protest rallies against illegal immigration at the state Capitol over the next three days.

A Smyrna mother-daughter duo, Pam Pinkard and Donna Walker, are staging "Americans' Job and Tax Rally" at 3 p.m. today. The women say they're relying on e-mail and word-of-mouth to draw people to their event, and have no idea how many will show.

"We have no organization," Walker said Friday. "We're just a group of people that are fed up."

On Monday, D.A. King of Marietta is holding a noon rally at the Capitol to protest recent calls by illegal immigrants for amnesty.

King, founder of the Dustin Inman Society — an anti-illegal immigrant group — has a far more organized network, although his most successful rally to date, held earlier this year, only drew about 75 people.

King said he believes rallies around the nation by illegal immigrants and their allies, including a Monday rally in Atlanta that drew an estimated 40,000 people, have stirred Americans to action.

"Let me say that I am very, very grateful to the illegal alien amnesty lobby for putting these rallies on," King said Friday. "I probably have received 5,000 e-mails, people asking me to do something to respond to the illegal aliens and their supporters rallying in the streets and demanding unconditional citizenship in this country."

King also said he doesn't know how many people will show up for his rally. But he doesn't feel competition from today's rally.

"I applaud them," King said of the Smyrna women, "for taking it upon themselves to organize resistance to what we all see happening in our state and nation. I think there should be a rally every day of every week from now until the day the government secures our borders and applies our law equally."

King's rally will feature several guest speakers, including state Reps. Melvin Everson (R-Snellville) and Matt Dollar (R-Marietta), a legal U.S. immigrant, an American landscaper put out of work because he couldn't compete with illegal immigrant labor and a spokesman for Americans for Immigration Control.

Pinkard and Walker say they got involved because of what they see happening around them. The women said many illegal immigrants are not paying taxes, yet getting certain education and healthcare benefits.

Pinkard said her husband was forced to shutter his remodeling and painting business because he could not compete with cheap illegal immigrant labor.

"All of my male friends in their mid-40s, I have watched every one of them lose their businesses," Pinkard said. "It's just been devastating to all of us. We cannot compete with the rate that the builders are paying illegal immigrants, which is also degrading to the immigrants."

Pinkard said she was bothered to see the thousands of Hispanics fill DeKalb County streetsMonday. "We got tired of seeing the marches, we got tired of knowing these people are there illegally ... why wasn't somebody arresting anybody? They had 200 DeKalb County police officers there."

So far, only John Konop, a Republican running for Congress in the 6th District, is scheduled to speak at the womens' rally.

Walker said they intend to hand out fliers encouraging people to report illegal immigrants in the workplace.

"There's no work if the businesses won't hire them because they're getting penalized," Walker said. "If there's no jobs, the illegals will go home."