D.A. King
Imagine a campaign in favor of the use of stolen Social Security numbers and fraudulent ID documents.
Crazy, impossible and “never happen” you say? Hardly. The shameless illegal alien lobby does it quite often. They frame it as a “civil-rights” issue and say they are defending “immigrants.” They hope you won’t know that immigrants who are in the USA lawfully have genuine Social Security numbers, real American IDs and no need for stolen or fake SSNs.
Imagine any elected official in Georgia ignoring the plight of jobless citizens.
Now, imagine being an allegedly conservative chief executive of an Atlanta-area county and not rushing to take advantage of an available no-cost tool called “IMAGE certification” that would expose the use of stolen Social Security numbers by workers paid with tax funds.
This is not impossible either. And you don’t need to just imagine. Despite what he has said about leading and managing, it is exactly what is happening right now here in Cobb County, Ga., with county boss Tim Lee. And perhaps with one or more of our district commissioners.
Maybe they have forgotten the multiple 2010 news reports of repeated revelations of illegal workers taking coveted taxpayer-funded construction jobs building the Cobb Court House. Or the fact that it happened so many times and became so embarrassing that the sheriff had to be called in with armed guards to check workers’ IDs at the entry to the Court House construction site.
Amazingly, the obvious and nearly fool-proof solution to such future scandals might not be used here in Cobb County. A change in county code to require contractors to simply apply to use the no-cost federal “IMAGE certification” tool to detect fake IDs and illegal workers on county jobs is not a sure thing.
And Tim Lee has flip-flopped on his promise to extend the IMAGE program from the BOC itself to county contractors.
Yes, last May the BOC cast a unanimous, bipartisan vote to sign an agreement with ICE to become IMAGE-compliant — which, again, mostly means they have allowed the feds to check the BOC’s hiring records for compliance with federal law and to sniff out bogus and stolen IDs used by workers at hiring — including stolen Social Security numbers.
At the May 2012 signing ceremony, Lee said “The IMAGE agreement will help prevent possible terrorist attacks and protect employees against discrimination based upon citizenship or natural origin.” And he was right.
“The message, if there is one, is that Cobb County takes its responsibility very seriously to make sure that everything possibly that could be done is being done to make sure the laws are being followed in our county, and to make sure there’s an opportunity for equal employment for those that deserve it,” Lee told this newspaper after that meeting.
By participating in the IMAGE program, companies can reduce unauthorized employment and the use of fraudulent identity documents.
As part of IMAGE, ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will provide education and training on proper hiring procedures, and fraudulent document detection.
The ugly truth is that Tim Lee’s enthusiasm for rooting out black-market labor from the county-paid contractor workforce has waned. In a departure from his campaign promise, Lee now says that he is undecided on whether he will support the IMAGE requirement for contractors. How? He is using the endless and ever-dependable political goop “until examining any unintended consequences such as the cost of implementation to manage it and making us uncompetitive for new business.”
Imagine telling that to the Cobb’s unemployed and working poor who would love to look for a better life by having a public job now held by an illegal worker using a stolen Social Security number.
Passing the IMAGE ordinance sponsored by Commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell shouldn’t be a difficult decision. The coming vote on this county policy will be long remembered.
The entire Cobb County Board of Commissioners has a clear choice here. Not all choices in life offer this clarity. Align with law-abiding voters — or with the counterfeit identification enthusiasts and the big money Chamber of Commerce.
It will be very educational to watch them pick a side.
There will be a hearing on the proposed policy at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Cobb Government Building on Marietta Square.
Pick a side.
D.A. King is president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society and a nationally recognized authority on illegal immigration. Contact him at The Dustin Inman Society on Facebook.
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Myth: Rich can actually think.
So now, Tim Lee and Helen have another ally besides the Chamber of Commerce and the other illegal aliens employers. They have Comrade Rich Pellegrino on their side.
Tim & Helen -Way to go folks! The nut who calls the police and the sheriff racists and bigots for enforceing our laws and who has joined terrorist Wm Ayers onstage and who partners up with the hate group Nation of Islam is supporting you in your effort to fight use the IMAGE system to save jobs! The IMAGE system of saving jobs that you already voted FOR. Before the Chamber told you they don't want to find the workers with false ID.
Cobb County is sinking to Dekalb depths. Helen: My friends in your area are talking RECALL.
Also, let me help bring more clarity by dispelling some common myths, including those in this article (and all of my information comes from independent studies and audits, which I will be happy to provide upon request):
Myth: They are taking our jobs.
All studies conclude that their combined economic input into the economy actually creates a net increase in jobs because of buying power, taxes paid, and business creation.
Myth: They don't pay taxes.
All state and federal studies conclude they pay millions more in taxes (income, sales, property, etc) than the services they receive.
So, not only do they enrich our culture, but also our coffers. "Few issues offer such clarity."
E-Verify ONLY works for new employees. An illegal who used YOUR SSN five years ago to get a job with CW Mathews to taka a job away from an American will NEVER be discovered unless we help DA get this IMAGE rule passed.
The county has noithing to do with the audits that ICE would do on the books of the contractors who want to work for the county. The law would be that only companies that aply to let the fefs look at the books can even bid.
No offense, but it seems awfully lazy to get it so wrong. The fact that Chamber baby $$$Tim Lee$$$ is against it should be enough even if you won't take the time to look for truth
My bridge club friend lives in Helen Goreham's district and tells me that Helen is by no means a sure yes vote on this. Apparently, the Chamber of Commerce and Tim Lee have bullied her into backing up on her promise to vote yes that I read about in the paper.
What a world. I can't believe that we have reached the point that saving our tax dollars for American workers and findiong stolen social security numbers has turned into an argument.
What have we come to?
I'm a fan of the American workers that have been screwed over by dishonest politicians & greedy contractors!!
If this has loopholes & the contractors know them, how does it make much difference?
I just don't see how this is any different than the E-Verify (which was supposed to keep illegals from working county contracts)or SB529 (that was supposed to run illegals out of Georgia).
The illegals are here.
There are 100's of neighborhoods in this county turns the politicians turn a blind eye to.
They are rneting, buying, working, using hospitals & schools , working in the private sector AND working on county jobs.
The wealthy will continue to use cheap labor. The contractors will continue to pick up day laborers.
I have never heard of one single ICE raid on any DOT projects in the Atlanta area.
So , really, what is this about?
If you show me how it would actually work, I'd support it. At this point, I don't believe the county has to worry much about any funding for ICE audits.
The Cobb ordinace would only apply to Cobb County, NOT the cities. Or the school board. I hear that Mayor Tumlin has already said no and ignored doing it for Marietta. He won't even do what Lee has already done by asking ICE to check the Marietta books, much less making the contractors do it. The other Mayors have stayed silent, hoping it will go away before anybody gets it. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Yes, the contractors are terrified because they know an ICE check of their books would turn up a tidal wave of illegal aliens who used fake SSNs.
$$$$$$$$$$$$
D.A. King is speaking truth to power here. GO DA!
I am going to the Tuesday meeting to see the commissioners.And Tim Lee.
1-audits
2-cities
thank-you
The big players are busy working on multi-million dollar road/sidewalk/school/firestation projects in Smyrna. I imagine they're in the other cities as well.
I could get behind this, only if there was funding for on site audits. And at least 2 audits per company, per year. More, if complaints filed.
To ensure compliance, an on site visit would require fingerprinting every person on the job site.
Each person found to have not been run through the IMAGE would cost the company a $100,000 fine. PERIOD.
1st violation, no more county contracts!
10 illegals, a million bucks.
The ONLY way this business of hiring illegals will stop, is meaningful deductions from their profits!
For those of us who have been hit by an illegal who then tried to run, we need to rid those here for their own gain and forget to be a good citizen.
Speaking the truth IS doing something!
Trying to quiet down people that might not fall in line, does not benefit the American workers that are out of work.
Tell me,... who exactly is going to go to these job sites to ensure every laborer has been run through this magical IMAGE?
Just like SB529,... bunch of smoke & mirrors!
Chip Rogers knew it,.. and when I laid it out before him & showed him there was no funding for audits,... he denied it & ran me out of his office.
These politicians are not going to do anything that really cuts off the hand that feeds them!!
I dare these commissioners to not pass this rule!
PPS On a personal experience note , I suggest that if you see a CW Matthews work crew, you can go and take Spanish lessons from them.(Or for the matter , almost any roofer in Cobb.)
It's just all too easy to ignore the real issue that's conveniently confined west of the neighborhoods where people reside that have any prestige or power.
Cobb County has carved out a nice large area to house their cheap labor. Shoot, the East Cobbers still need their lawns cut, leaves blown & houses painted. The natural place for them is the poverty stricken South Cobb Drive corridor, from Smyrna to Marietta out west to Austell, Powder Springs , into Douglasville.
Every working illegal has a chain of friends and cousins that they house & help find employment.
Even the anchor babies will be in the labor pool before we can say 'unemployment rate'.
Even if the county government actually audited the contractors on paper, the road crews will still continue to hire 'off the books'.
The big companies, CW Matthews, Croy, Baldwin, Arcadis,etc., have become too spoiled paying 7 to 10 dollar hour cash labor.
The deal w/ the corrupt mayors is,.. allow the quiet, hard working illegals to live in these poor neighborhoods and we'll stay out of your cities business.
And no matter what these county folks do next week,.. it will not help the 1,000's of Americans in Cobb County that have lost work to the preferred 'new' labor in the private sector!
It is so easy to sit back and do NOTHING but complian and be negative. You don't know what you are talking about and should at least shut up whjile others try to fix the problem you are complaining about.
You speak truth. There are many folks in Cobb who cannot find work.There are young folks who made mistakes with the law and cannot find work anywhere.
I will wager that illegal applicants are not asked to take a urine test. You see, it's OK if you use drugs if you will work for min wage.
It's also OK fro employers to have employees who use the Emergency Rooms of our hospitals as theer source of health care. We, the public, are paying for their employees benefits.
That is dishonest and definitely violating many laws, state and federal. No elected official should keep her/his seat if they approve contracts without IMAGE vetting.
King is right: Few issues offer such clarity.