County Cracking Down on Illegals
Sarah Fay Campbell, Times-Herald (Newnan, Ga.), Aug. 17
The Coweta County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to have all county agencies immediately stop providing services to illegal immigrants.
The board did that through a resolution, written by Commissioner Greg Tarbutton.
The resolution also states that “it is expected that the sheriff will enforce immigration laws with the same impartiality as he does the other laws of the county and community.”
If that enforcement is “hampered or blocked by any federal or state agency,” the sheriff is to report to the commissioners the name of the agency and “the individual who has taken it upon themselves to invalidate the laws of our county and country.”
Then, the commissioners can “bring to the attention of our elected state and federal officials the names of said agencies and individuals so they will be held accountable for aiding those who violate our county’s and nation’s laws.”
There have been a lot of car accidents lately involving illegal immigrants, said Tarbutton, folks who have no paperwork or documentation. And when the sheriff or district attorney attempt to prosecute them, “they are blocked repeatedly by federal officials,” he said.
“This resolution is put together so we can have parity and not have the law-abiding, tax-paying citizens discriminated against and treated differently.”
But, he wanted to make sure everyone knows that “if someone is hurt or needs emergency services, we’re going to help them.”
Sheriff Mike Yeager said he had just been to a meeting of sheriffs, chiefs, and prosecutors all over the Eighth Congressional District, with Congressman Lynn Westmoreland. “We gave Westmoreland a lot of stuff to take back to Washington with him. He says he’s going to be looking at it on the federal end of it.”
Yeager said when he has illegal immigrants and calls federal authorities, it doesn’t do much good. “One time they told us don’t call unless you get a busload full.” Well, one day on the interstate, there was a broken down bus full of illegal immigrants. But the feds still wouldn’t come down and deport them.
