Letter to the Editor – April 17, 2024

Dear Editor,

I write regarding the guest column your newspaper published Saturday from Mr. D.A. King and the legislation sponsored by Sen. Larry Walker passed by the GOP-controlled General Assembly. I thank you for running the accurate and wisely written column. King is an expert. I too recommend that Gov. Kemp veto SB 354. 

I hope readers and conservative voters in Middle Georgia recognize the fact while the Republican lawmakers were proudly boasting of passage of HB 1105 aimed criminal illegals and sanctuary policies, they also passed Walker’s SB 354 which is a literal written invitation to illegal aliens to come to Georgia. The irresponsible quest for more workers and more business in Georgia at any cost has gone over the top of the lunacy mark.

Inviting more illegal aliens will produce more crime and needless misery for Georgians. I can’t help but wonder if Laken Riley’s family knows about Sen. Walker’s measure.

As a retired Senior Special Agent of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (USINS) I have spent most of my life fighting the fully avoidable crime created by illegal immigration. I served on metropolitan area drug, and organized crime task forces for many years and have supervised special agents assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. In addition, I spent ten years as a uniformed Border Patrol agent assigned to both the northern and southern borders. 

My final assignment was as the Assistant Director, Enforcement Training, U.S. Immigration Officer Academy, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Glynco, GA.

Trusting voters should be reminded that as ‘candidate Kemp’ in 2018, our governor promised to focus on illegal immigration in Georgia and to end the already illegal sanctuary policies that some jailers have created. Having closely watched Gov. Kemp, I can say with great disgust that he has done nothing since then about our very real illegal immigration problem in Georgia.

If SB 354 becomes law, it will lead to more bills that further dismantle the system in place to discourage illegal immigration in Georgia.

Not many Republican voters want Georgia to be “a great place for illegals to live, work and raise a family.” But Nobody should be surprised if Gov. Kemp proudly signs Walker’s dangerous bill into law while assuring us that it’s “good for business.”

Sincerely,

Robert Trent