Political observers say it was both a responsible move and good politics when Gov. Nathan Deal sent a July 24 letter to President Barack Obama asking the administration to define the status of unaccompanied Central American illegal alien minors held at federal centers before asking Georgia’s state or private organizations to house, feed and care for them.
The governor wrote that he was surprised to learn 1,154 unaccompanied illegal Central American children were placed in Georgia facilities without any notification. They are part of an illegal immigration surge into the U.S. southwestern border that, according to the Deal letter, “would not have happened if not for the Obama administration’s ill-conceived immigration policies.”
“The state of Georgia has received no guidance from the federal government about what it plans to do with these children,” the governor complained, (and) “we need to know their federal status and the plan for returning them to their parents or guardians. We are particularly interested to know if the children will be classified as ‘refugees,’ which would entitle them to all social welfare benefits available to Americans. Between Medicaid and school enrollment, this would come with a large price tag for Georgia taxpayers, and that’s unacceptable.”
“We haven’t done any polling on this issue,” said Insider Advantage CEO Matt Towery, “but I don’t believe the governor would have sent the letter if he hadn’t gauged that speaking out would be welcomed by a majority of Georgians whether they are Democrats, Republicans or independents.”
Deal’s letter also notes concerns “from state legislators in certain areas of the state of a recent surge in school enrollment of children from Central America.”
When it comes to Third World refugee resettlement into various states, which is controlled by the U.S. State Department with United Nations guidance, Deal has long complained that Georgia receives a disproportionate share. In a major
address on May 18, 2013 the governor revealed to fellow Republican Party state convention delegates that Democrats in the DeKalb County legislative delegation asked for his help in getting the Obama administration to temporarily halt costly refugee settlement in their county. (State Sen. Jason Carter, a member of the DeKalb delegation and the Democrat nominee for governor who is running against Deal this fall, was not a part of that bipartisan effort.)
When asked about the Deal letter to Obama, a Carter spokesman deferred on any extensive comment, merely saying that the Democrat candidate felt illegal immigration is “a federal problem.”
