A whopping 70 percent of the American people say illegal immigrants pose a huge threat to our culture and economy, a Reuters/Ipso online poll revealed two weeks ago. That percentage includes not just Republicans but a large chunk of Democrats and independents.
With all of the publicity surrounding the continuing border surge of Central Americans being shipped to Georgia and other states, with few being deported, as well as the incredible Obama administration-ordered release of over 36,000 convicted illegal alien criminals into the general population during the last fiscal year, no wonder illegal immigration joins Obamacare and the economy as top election issues.
If President Barack Obama goes through with his threat, through executive action, to amnesty or give “probation” and/or work permits to potentially millions more illegal immigrants, Democrat and GOP leaders predict a political explosion just in time for the November mid-term congressional elections. Strategist James Carville, along with other Democrat consultants, note that several of their party’s senators in states that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried in 2012 are already in danger of being ousted. Their party’s permissiveness on illegal immigration won’t help them.
In Georgia, which the Department of Homeland Security says has the nation’s sixth largest illegal immigrant population, the issue has heated up in the gubernatorial race between Gov. Nathan Deal and Democrat challenger Jason Carter. This week Carter said he opposes H.B. 87, the immigration control law overwhelmingly passed several years ago by the General Assembly. Contrast that with the governor saying he firmly supports the law. In fact, Deal estimated in 2011 that Georgia taxpayers spent about $2.4 billion a year on illegal immigrants and their services.
This week in Athens four members of a group called the “Undocumented Student Alliance” set up the governor with a question while video cameras filmed. They asked him about granting illegal aliens in-state tuition and admittance to the state’s top five universities. One of the questioners even tried to imply the governor was somehow a racist for asking if she was “undocumented.” Some bloggers and journalists distorted the story and blew it out of proportion, but the governor believes that the large majority of Georgians, just like that 70 percent in the national poll, support his position on retaining current University System policy and supporting H.B. 87.
Confirmation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that seven convicted illegal immigrant murderers were released into the metro Atlanta area population also won’t help the Carter campaign. ICE told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution it refuses to identify the killers – and the Democrat gubernatorial candidate has so far refused to criticize this Obama “privacy” policy for the killers. Nor will it help the campaign of Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Nunn, who says she supports “comprehensive immigration reform” which includes granting work permits and a “path to citizenship” for millions of amnestied illegals.
In these tough economic times, Democrats and independents along with Republicans question why immigration laws aren’t being enforced and why all too many Democrats running for office support open borders. Independent blogger Michael Snyder notes that “there is intense competition for just about any job seekers.” So, he asks, why allow millions more foreign job-seekers to compete with unemployed or under-employed Americans? That’s a question that Carter and Nunn are struggling to answer.