Thread: Mayor says Mexico trip opened eyes on immigration

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13079280.htm

Posted on Fri, Nov. 04, 2005

Mayor says Mexico trip opened eyes on immigration


Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga. - Athens Mayor Heidi Davison says a University of Georgia-sponsored trip to Mexico has given her new empathy for Hispanic immigrants and a desire to lobby state and federal official to relax some immigration policies.

Davison, along with about 15 other Georgia local officials from areas with large or growing Hispanic populations, spent two weeks in and around Monterrey and Veracruz.

After seeing impoverished villages where nearly all the men are gone working in the United States, Davison said she came to the conclusion that "they are seeking a better life for their families, and specifically for their children. That's a natural human desire."

Elected officials and UGA professors met with Mexican government officials and toured small towns and rural villages last month to better understand why thousands of Mexicans come to Georgia each year.

"We came away with some pretty good ideas," said Gordon Maner, a public service assistant at UGA's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, who helped organized the trip.

Davison said she will work to ease restrictions on employing immigrants, and fight proposed state laws taking benefits away from undocumented aliens.

The Athens economy appears too dependent on the 6,000 to 12,000 Hispanic immigrants in Clarke County to bear such restrictions, she said.

Employment rules are complicated, but federal law generally requires that employers pay alien workers a wage on par with U.S. citizens, and the employer must often pay fees to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office, which Davison said can encourage employment of undocumented aliens who can be paid less under the table while avoiding the fees.

She said she will lobby Congress to expand the guest worker program, and wants to study in greater detail the impact of immigrants on the local economy.

Many Hispanic immigrants in Athens work in the poultry and landscaping industries, but reliable statistics are few and far between on state and national levels, let alone for local economies.

While the federal government controls who gets into the country, the state decides who gets what benefits, like driver's licenses, education, welfare and subsidized health insurance.

Several bills in the state legislature would take many of those benefits away from undocumented aliens, an idea Davison said she opposes.

"I don't think we should shut those services off," she said. "We need to continue to provide those services."

Looks like Athens deserves to have a new mayor. We have too many unemployed or underemployed Americans to subsidize imported competition.

Oh sob sob sob, feel sorry for them. Kick that gal out of office.

I

don't think we should shut those services off," she said. "We need to continue to provide those services."

And who is paying for the services?

Home page for Athens, Clarke Co. GA

http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/commission/

The Mayors email add.

mayor@athensclarkecounty.com ( I was nice.. LOL)

Remember what kind of a president we got from Georgia. Should this surprise you ?

It's a beautiful state, pretty nice people...but they can't seem to produce a leader for anything. Can anyone think of one ?

For that matter, can any of the states? I'll give Colorado a thumbs up. Tom Tancredo.

I'll give North Carolina a thumbs up too !! William Gheen.
And ...Judy!!

Which other states can we give a thumbs up to ??

Seriously though, we spent a week in Georgia this summer, wowy, zowy, you should have SEEN the inundation (is that a word ?) of illegal aliens in that state. I was shocked. Illegal Aliens are flocking to Georgia !!
They like that southern hospitality, I guess.

I hope they turn off the TV soon in Georgia...before it's too late. It's going to be really strange to hear all those Georgians speaking Spanish with a southern accent.

I also appreciate their hospitality....but for the sake of the country, I think they should pull back a little.

Which other states can we give a thumbs up to ??

In Arizona, we have J D Hayworth, and Russel Pearce (State Sen.)... Good
Jon Kyl ...... OK
John McCain ...... oh well can't win em'all.

Elected officials and UGA professors met with Mexican government officials and toured small towns and rural villages last month to better understand why thousands of Mexicans come to Georgia each year.

I assume the taxpayers of GA footed the bill of this asinine trip. What does it matter why they sneak across the border, they sneak across the border period. Is UGA planning some sort of give away program in Mexico to keep them down there? Another waste of taxpayer money.

Davison said she will work to ease restrictions on employing immigrants, and fight proposed state laws taking benefits away from undocumented aliens.

I hope the good folks of Athens send this woman packing next election day-maybe to Mexico where she, like most of the US, will learn firsthand what living in a third world country is like. She deserves it.

Several bills in the state legislature would take many of those benefits away from undocumented aliens, an idea Davison said she opposes. ...idiot that she is!

"I don't think we should shut those services off," she said. "We need to continue to provide those services."

She should have shut up after the first 3 words above.

Thanks for the email address gearhead - I wasn't nice

I received a return email saying she was out of town untill 11/12, so the email add is good, if anyone wants to drop her a note.