Arizona Immigration Law Sparks Ga Debate

Updated: Monday, 26 Apr 2010, 11:54 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 26 Apr 2010, 10:39 PM ET

Reported By: Russ Spencer | Edited By: Leigha Baugham

ATLANTA (MyFOX ATLANTA) - Arizona's new immigration law is sparking protests there and threats of legal action from the Obama administration. On Monday, Georgians weighed in on the new law.

D.A. King, an activist against illegal immigration, and Jerry Gonzalez, the executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, engaged in a spirited debate about the new law.

"States do not have the power to enact their own immigration policies," said Gonzalez.

"States have not just the right, but the duty to take care of citizens and protect them from the ravages of the organized crime that is illegal immigration," countered King.

The law was signed in Arizona last Friday and is set to start this summer, and it has touched a nerve across the country.

A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows 60 percent of Americans favor the law. In Arizona, where so many people cross the border, the approval is 70 percent.

In Tucson, those opposed to the new law protested, saying their civil liberties will be violated when police check the immigration status of suspects.

"The governor of Arizona has made it brilliantly clear that they are setting up guidelines to protect people's civil rights. On the other side, American citizens' civil rights are being violated everyday because the federal government has refused its fundamental duty of securing the border," said King.

There are currently an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona.

"Fundamentally, they have broken a law that is unworkable, untenable," said Gonzalez. "It's not an excuse. It's because Congress has not acted on this issue in 20 years. What we need to do is demand our elected officials to produce a workable solution that moves us forward. We need to make sure we protect families and due process."

Gonzalez hurled two charges at King. "It should be noted that D.A. King is a convicted felon and runs a hate group," Gonzalez said.

"My response is that in 1977 I pleaded guilty to betting on football games and I would regard it as an endorsement if the Southern Poverty Law Center and ADL had labeled my organization a hate group," King said. "Jerry Gonzalez's allegation is entirely false."

King's group, the Dustin Inman Society, has been called extreme, but not a hate group.

Both King and Gonzalez said they wouldn't be surprised if a Georgia lawmaker were to introduce a similar immigration bill.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/ar ... ate-042610

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Related
Personal commentary by D.A. King on the debate at
http://thedustininmansociety.org/blog/?p=3182