EDITOR'S NOTE: Below is a selection of responses shared by readers of MDJOnline.com in reaction to recent MDJ stories ...

All workers on new courthouse to undergo background checks for legal status ...

Thank you wrote - This is a great idea and thank you Commissioner Bob Ott for stepping up to the plate and seeing this through. With so many Americans out of jobs, we need to make sure they are hired first. They can do the same job and just as good.

Proud Progressive wrote - This talk of "illegals" just shows how backward Cobb is. The immigrants will migrate here no matter what you do or say. Your racism is showing if you refuse to accept the newcomers. There are plenty of jobs for everyone. This is not just a country for Americans - it belongs to everyone. Soon all of you redneck anti-immigrant yokels will be in the minority here, too. Only speaking English in America is old-fashioned and you are all bigots!

Job Creation wrote - Proud Progressive, immigrants are more than welcome in our wonderful county as long as they are legal and pay their fair share, just like the rest of us residents. There aren't plenty of jobs to go around. Where have you been the past couple of years?

Retiree1 wrote - To "Proud Progressive": Why don't you understand or accept the difference between "legal" immigrants and illegal immigrants? Do you support all illegal activity, like illegal drug use versus valid use of prescription medications? Do you support illegal back-alley abortions versus legal medical procedures? Do you support unlicensed (hence illegal) nurses, plumbers, electricians, etc.?

Cathy B wrote - As a United States Citizen I am expected to follow the laws of my country, state, county, etc. Why does this apply to me and not to the illegals? I just don't understand!

D.A King fan wrote - The Cobb commissioners need to keep this going, not just when the press hits it.

MoneyGone wrote - Everyone with a license to serve alcohol has to be fingerprinted and then given a license. The same standards should apply for county and state construction workers. The system is in place, not hard to require it. No more excuses.

What the!? wrote - I am glad that this is being implemented. Too bad Marietta let many illegals lay all the new brick crosswalks, build the curbing and erect the neighborhood markers in the redevelopment areas.

Tracy P. wrote - I have a friend who has been unemployed for a year, yet he is turned down for jobs due to the hiring of someone who is not of this country. I'm totally fed up!

Barrona wrote - Why just the courthouse construction? What's wrong with doing the same thing on all of the taxpayer funded construction going on in Cobb. SPLOST dollars are being spent on road projects and you cannot tell me all of the workers on the road project on Acworth Due West Road are legal, based on what I saw recently. A lot of this will stop as soon as the business owners get fined or lose their business licenses for hiring illegals.

Pat H wrote - Commissioners, you all should be ashamed and gone that you have been discovered twice in charge of a building project with taxpayer funds and did not discharge these builders. Zebra did the very same thing in Florida previously, yet no checks were done on their practices, and you all should have known. You are too busy pandering for votes instead of doing the jobs you were sworn to do.

Daveyy wrote - Kudos to Sheriff Warren and Cobb County for leading the fight on illegal aliens.

West Cobb Resident wrote - "Mimic Arizona." I can only hope ...

Chancellor: no reason to prevent illegals from attending college ...

Larry P. wrote - Chancellor Erroll Davis and Regent James Jolly are aiding illegal immigrants. By doing so, they are harboring fugitives. They should go to jail and be passed around as homecoming dates.

Rickaroony wrote - Another example of the far left radical thinkers that stand up for the law breakers. I think all lefties have a list of these strange ideas or the way things should be.

El Paso wrote - Being here illegally is not a crime, it is a civil violation. Undocumented immigrants are a net economic positive, and not the economic drain contended. If they pay out of state tuition rates, there education is an additional economic benefit.

Mad American wrote - The key word is "illegal." Mr. Davis laws are being broken, you know it! You want that tuition no matter what.

Mr. G wrote - I applaud Chancellor Erroll Davis for finally standing up to all these political nut jobs and explaining the facts about illegal immigrants attending Georgia universities. These students worked hard and if they can pay the out-of-state tuition to attend college, why not let them attend? What is everyone so afraid of?

D.P. wrote - This is just another example of the power of the dollar. Illegal immigrants are criminals and should not attend public schools ever.

Tiredofpayingforall wrote - Businesses have to use e-verify for employment verification. Why can't Regents do the same? Maybe that is too easy and solves the problem.

Anonymous wrote - Davis should be fired. As a resident of Georgia and a taxpayer, I would like to personally fire you. What is wrong with you? No common sense and no consideration for Americans. You should be deported to Mexico.

Heard Enough wrote - Yes, Errol Davis, you DO have a reason to check the legality of your students. You check their high school grade point averages, their SAT and other scores, and other facts about them. You do have the obligation to report them to Immigration.