http://www.mdjonline.com/articles/2006/ ... 207864.txt

Georgia legislation to discourage illegal immigration from Canada?

"If all of this happens, we're going to say, 'Don't come to Georgia.'"

- Teodoro Maus, former Mexican consul in Atlanta, currently on the staff of Cobb County Schools, quoted by the Associated Press in December on pending bills aimed at illegal immigration in Georgia.

Maus' remark is a rare but enlightening slip-up on the part of the former Mexican consul in Atlanta, Mr. Maus.

The "we" is the illegal alien lobby. When he said, "Don't come to Georgia," he meant the illegal aliens who are walking into our nation as you read this page.

Depending on perspective, Maus' statement could be a hoped-for promise or an ominous threat. The former for Georgia taxpayers, the latter for employers allowed flouting American law.

Senõr Maus' remark accidentally reveals the distress that the illegal alien lobby in Georgia suffers these days - the mistake being that the rest of the "open borders" crowd is telling all who will listen that passing and enforcing bills to make Georgia less attractive to illegal aliens and those who employ them will have no effect on more illegal immigration here.

Maus has refuted the agreed upon propaganda "talking points."

The correct statement from Maus should have been designed to make us lay back, drink our Kool-Aid and accept that illegal immigration cannot be stopped and that resistance is futile. It is not.

Maus accidentally spoke the truth on illegal immigration, which is rather unusual for this former official agent of Mexico. If we make Georgia less hospitable for illegal aliens, they will go to other states. What a concept. Gracias, sir.

It has been said, "a diplomat is someone who goes abroad to lie for his country." Teodoro Maus has proven to be a consummate diplomat.

I was in the audience at a recent Kennesaw State University panel discussion on illegal immigration and listened as Maus told the crowd that - and this is one of my favorites - "most illegal immigration into the United States comes from Canada."

Sure it does, eh? That explains why we see all of those ever-present Canadians swarming the "I pay in cash" criminal contractors' trucks at the day-labor sites each day. It would further explain why we see bright red Maple Leaf flag of Canada flying everywhere in Georgia. And former Canadian officials demanding the rights of citizens for illegal Canadian "migrants." That Teodoro - what a card.

Maus has explained why we now "press two for Canadian" on the telephone in the American South.

Legislation that would require state contractors to hire legal labor, that all applicants for non-federally mandated state services prove legal residence, that employers in Georgia verify the Social Security numbers of new employees and that state and local police in Georgia be trained to enforce immigration laws is being taken seriously. Good.

A recent Zogby poll shows that more than 80 percent of Georgians want employers of illegals punished. A large majority thinks it very important that the Legislature do something about services to people who have no legal right to be in our state.

Imagine the effect if the governor of Georgia were to get behind the pending bills designed to accomplish both goals. Or at least to pick a side on the issue.

Hmmm -U.S. laws and citizens or illegal employers and aliens. That's a tough one.

Mr. Maus is hardly alone in his panic. The desperation that the unspoken agenda is in danger is evident from many in the press, including the Atlanta newspapers, which recently described the pending legislation - with one bill having been proposed by a Democrat and co-sponsored by state Rep. Pedro Marin of Gwinnett County, a (non-Canadian) Democrat - as "immigrant bashing bills."

Eh? Isn't the real "immigrant bashing" the demeaning of legal immigrants by our ignoring the laws they obeyed to join the American family?

If former Mexican consul - and present Cobb County Schools cultural liaison - Teodoro Maus is accurate, shouldn't it be "Canadian bashing"?

D.A. King of east Cobb is president of The Dustin Inman Society, a coalition of citizens with the goal of educating the Georgia public on the consequences of illegal immigration.

Donald Lambro is a nationally syndicated columnist for the Washington Times.

David Broder's e-mail address is davidbroder@

washpost.com.

Matt Towery of Cobb County is founder of Insider Advantage.

Diana West is a columnist for The Washington Times.

Dick Morris was an adviser to Bill Clinton for 20 years.