OPINION

An opportunity to ask Rep Bill Werkheiser about “Opportunity Tuition” for illegals

Dear editor,

As a someone who has worked on immigration-related matters for the last nineteen years in the state Capitol, this writer is curious: What are the opinions of readers on creating a state law that would allow residents who are in the U.S. illegally to attend taxpayer-funded colleges in Georgia at a much lower tuition rate than Americans and legal immigrants who come from other states?

I also wonder if area Republicans are aware of Rep Bill Werkheiser’s ideas on that topic.

Appling County Republicans who take advantage of the upcoming opportunity to hear from Rep Bill Werkheiser at the October 19, county GOP meeting may want to ask some detailed questions about legislation he has signed onto. As Americans of all descriptions who take a “pro-enforcement” approach to immigration, we at the Dustin Inman Society hope voters will ask about Rep Werkheiser’s decision to be a cosponsor of HB 131.

HB 131 is legislation that would create a new, special tier of tuition at Georgia’s taxpayer-funded colleges for illegal aliens who are recipients of former President Barack Obama’s deferred action on deportation for illegal aliens who came to the U.S. as “children.” That program is widely known now as “DACA” and has been found to be illegal multiple times in various federal courts. One of them was the 11^th circuit appellate court that in March of 2019 issued a unanimous opinion that included the ruling that illegal aliens with DACA are still illegal aliens. “As DACA recipients, they were simply given a reprieve from removal; that does not mean they are in any way lawfully present…” wrote the panel.

Another federal judge found DACA illegal just last month.

The sponsors of HB 131 have decided to try to allow the illegals in Georgia with the illegal DACA status (about 20k in total) to pay instate tuition plus 10% while an American who lives in Michigan or Kansas, or any other state would pay the much higher out-of-state rate. How much more would the American or legal immigrant pay at South Georgia College?

According to the school’s website, instate tuition at South Georgia State College for a 15-hour class load is $1425.00. The out-of- state charge is $5395.00. The illegals with DACA would pay $1425.00 plus 10% under the language of the bill. Quick math shows that under the proposed new law, an “undocumented” student would pay $1567.50 ($1425.00 plus 10%) for the 15-hour course load while the American paid the full $5395.00.

That’s a difference of $3827.50 per semester if my calculator is correct.

Sponsors of HB 131 have labeled the new, special, low rate for the illegals as “Opportunity Tuition” and the DACA students who benefit from paying less that Americans as “Opportunity Students.”

Rep Werkheiser is one of three Republican cosponsors on the bill along with seven Democrats. The lead sponsor is Rep Kasey Carpenter of Dalton. There are literally hundreds of thousands of illegal border crossers with children on their way into the U.S as I type. Georgia is already home to more illegals than Arizona.

D.A. King – president, The Dustin Inman Society, for the board

Marietta

• This letter to the editor was published in the weekly Baxley News-Banner today. We are grateful for the space.

Dustin Inman Society president D.A. King was interviewed by the Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil at the Heritage Foundation on September 22, 2023. The topic was our pending lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center in federal court. The entire interview is available below on Youtube. We hope you take time to watch (the video has a false start but is corrected several seconds in).

“The Southern Poverty Law Center is notorious for branding mainstream conservative and Christian organizations, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom and Moms for Liberty “hate groups” or “antigovernment extremist groups,” placing them on a map alongside chapters of the Ku Klux Klan.”

• If you are able to help us with operations expenses, please see here. Unlike the illegal alien lobby, we are not funded by corporate Georgia.

False allegations of racism is usually a tool of the left

It has come to our attention that state Rep Bill Werkheiser has been severely misinformed about yours truly.

Word has arrived here from South Georgia that Rep Werkheiser has told at least one Appling County Republican (in writing) that I somehow “make a living fundraising off the immigration issue.” It gets worse and even more outrageously wrong – and potentially libelous.

• Related: Feds bust ‘modern-day slavery’ ring in Georgia

We don’t think Rep Werkheiser does much research before he spreads very inaccurate and damaging misinformation about people, at least about me.

Below is a screenshot sent to me this week that I am told by a third person and friend of the source comes from the cell phone of an interested Appling County resident. He sent a text to Rep Bill Werkheiser about an informative post I put on the Appling County Republican Party Facebook page when I learned that Rep Werkheiser would speak to that group next month. I have spoken on the phone with the man who received the text reply he says came from Rep Werkheiser. Rep Werkheiser has one thing right – I do live in Cobb County – in the same house for nearly 40 years.

The short version of a correction to the falsehoods Rep Bill Werkheiser is reportedly spreading is that in 2003 I set aside my own insurance business and began using my own money to fight the organized crime of illegal immigration. We have refinanced our home several times and incurred massive debt in that ongoing effort. I strive to not only counter the misinformation spread by agenda-driven media about illegal immigration but also to work to see Georgia law aimed at making our state inhospitable to that crime actually enforced. I formed the Dustin Inman Society in 2005. We do accept donations but my financial condition can hardly be viewed as “making a living” in any realistic measurement. I will likely never get out off debt.

These facts are easily confirmed, not withstanding the false information spread by the anti-enforcement lobby. It is difficult to understand how Rep Werkheiser can say “I know him well” as other than a very short and friendly conversation in the hallway of the CLOB in February, I don’t know him at all other than from the actions he takes on legislation both in committee and floor votes.

We are an IRS 501 (C) (4) non profit corporation in good standing with all state and federal regulations. We operate on donations.

Like the diverse group of Americans who serve on our board and support our cause, we are pro-enforcement on immigration. I’ll pass Rep Werkheiser’s depiction of me on to the proud Hispanic, black and Asian Americans on the DIS board.

It seems that Rep Werkheiser may be reacting to facts I shared with some of his constituents on legislation on which he is a cosponsor (HB 131) and another bill (HB 136) that he joined the Democrats in voting against in a committee hearing last session.

We firmly believe in transparency in government and make no apology for educating Georgians on what goes on in the state Capitol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I created this page to educate the Appling County Republicans and then used the URL to post on their Facebook page earlier this week (Sept. 25th). A screenshot of that page below.