Follow up to a post focused on an earlier statement by Martha 

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (00:00)
You know, two legislative sessions that we’ve been through, the last two before this one. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic and there was a lot of disruptions. We weren’t able to get a lot of our normal work done, uh, but that’s just the way it is. But still, last night, we fulfilled a campaign promise with constitutional carry. You know, we’ve passed legislation to kid our, keep our kids from being doctrinated in the classroom, got rid of ridiculous mask mandates. We’re bringing fairness to girls’ sports, which is a commonsense issue. It’s not targeted at anybody. It’s just bringing fairness and protecting, uh, female athletes when they’re competing, uh, which is the right thing to do.

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (00:37)
Uh, we’re also going after street gangs and street racers to keep our families safe. People are tired of violent crime. And the radicals on the left, you know, they want to defund the police. We passed legislation that prohibits local governments from defunding the police here in our state. We’re not gonna be the next Portland or, you know, Washington state or anything else when it comes to that. We’re gonna stand with our troops and our men and women in law enforcement. That is a prime duty of state government, is- is the safety of its citizens.

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (01:06)
And so I’ve just been trying to stay focused on what I can control and doing what I told people I would do. And that’s what we did last night and that’s what we’ve done over the last three years. And, you know, people that are trying to tear us down, uh, in a lot of instances, they don’t have their own record to talk about, so the only thing they could do is try to criticize mine. Uh, but they’re gonna lose that debate, ’cause- ’cause we’ve been very successful. We’ve got a great team in the general assembly that stayed focused on putting Georgians first and not worried about all that noise.

Martha Zoller: (01:36)
One final question. I think one of the biggest issues that’s changed the most over the last four years is- is immigration and what we’re having to deal with that, because when you ran in 2018, and of course I was on that campaign with you, and- and we, you know, there were certain issues. And then we had the pandemic come in, we had this unprecedented crossing borders that’s been happening, you know, now for almost, you know, a year and a half. Um, and I think it’s changed the- the face, if you will, of the problems we’re dealing with immigration-wise in Georgia. How do you think that’s gonna change going forward and how does policy need to adjust to that?

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (02:15)
Well, this is why the midterm elections are so important, and that we take back the United States House and the United States Senate to have some sanity up there in Washington, to reverse the disastrous policies that, uh, Biden has- has implemented at the border. Just the, I mean look, we’ve had, you know, uh, 100 or more, hundreds at times, National Guard troops in Georgia that are helping the border patrol. They’re doing that as we speak.

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (02:41)
You know, I was the first person, I believe in the country, to write a letter to the president this week, um, really saying, “Look, if you’re gonna change Title 42 and not send people back when they’re trying to come across the border and let them in the country, uh, really unabated in many instances, you gotta change the policies that you have down there to- to help protect our country and protect our homeland.” Uh, we’re suing them right now. Attorney General Chris Carr is suing the administration over the Title 42 policy, but that’s something that really is a, is a federal issue. We’re trying to push back as much as we can at the state level. We’ve offered National Guard troops to help with the problem. They’re doing an incredible job. Serving in McAllen, Texas right now as we speak. I’ve been there four different times.

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (03:25)
You know, the cartel’s using children as passports, and you’ve got fentanyl and other things that are coming across our borders because of the disastrous policies, again, in Washington, DC. They’ve led to 40 year high inflation. They’re leading to disaster at the border, where you had immigration problems turn into a mass migration crisis. And this is where people got to stand up on our side, come together, get out and vote, and send people that- that not just been talking about doing something, but who have been doing something, and let’s retake control of- of, uh, the legislative branch in Washington, DC, to set us up to do the same for the presidential race in 2024.

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (04:05)
But you know, the number one issue is we gotta get people to u- unite and get out the vote in 2022 and send a message that, look, the overreaching Democrats in Washington have been a disaster for our country, and in many ways around the world, and it’s time to push back against that. And we’re doing our part to be in that fight.

Martha Zoller: (04:23)
Governor Brian Kemp, thank you so much for being with us today.

GA Gov Brian Kemp: (04:27)
Have a great day. God bless.

Complete interview

Relevent segment audio

Our friend Mark Krikorian at the Center for Immigration Studies explains the latest open borders gambit from the Biden Regime in a short piece on the National Review Corner yesterday. We advise that you read it.

Hug your children. Save your old photos. Fly your flag.

The White House Does, in Fact, Have a Post–Title 42 Plan

NRO

March 31, 2022

Mark writes:

‘What that means is that the White House plan for dealing with the surge of new illegal immigration — which will come on top of the existing historic surge of illegal immigration – is not to halt the surge but to launder it by granting asylum immediately to virtually all those who jump the border. The goal is to “process” hundreds of thousands of border jumpers in an “efficient and fair” manner so that they’re no longer illegal aliens. Once they’ve been re-christened as asylees (and thus on a path to citizenship), there are no more messy questions about whether they’ll show up for court and whether they’ll leave when they lose their asylum claim (as most currently do).”

Read the entire piece here.

 

 

“The ultimate goal of any White House policy ought to be a North American economic and political alliance similar in scope and ambition to the European Union.”

Atlanta (Journal) Constitution newspaper

Constitution Home Edition
Friday, 9/7/2001
Editorial
page A18

OUR OPINIONS: Bush, Fox should pursue union similar to Europe

/ Staff,

Mexican President Vicente Fox envisions a North American economic alliance that will make the border between the United States and Mexico as unrestricted as the one between Tennessee and Georgia.

Though neither Fox nor President Bush expects to dissolve the 2000-mile border overnight, the Mexican leader clearly prefers sooner rather than later. In Washington this week, Fox surprised his friend and fellow rancher president by calling for sweeping American immigration reform by year’s end.

Currently, U.S. government immigration policy echoes its position on gays in the military: Don’t ask, don’t tell. The nation essentially winks at the estimated 3 million illegal Mexican immigrants toiling in fields, poultry plants and construction sites. If America cracked down and rounded up all those workers, the nation’s agricultural and construction industries would collapse, says Jagdish Sheth, Emory University’s Kellstadt professor of marketing.

Despite American dependence on their labor, undocumented workers still live in the shadows and under threat of deportation, and Fox is right to insist that Mexicans working, paying taxes and obeying the law have ”all their legal rights when they’re living here in the United States.”

Those rights don’t have to spring from legal residency. Some sort of temporary guest worker visas stand a better chance with congressional conservatives than the blanket amnesty suggested last month by the White House. Opponents shot down that trial balloon before it even cleared the tree tops.

In the short-term and during this country’s economic downturn, Bush ought to concentrate on a work permit program that concedes the need for Mexican workers but imposes controls to stem illegal crossings. By loosening border restrictions, Mexicans may eventually return to their homeland, a journey that now entails too many perils. Reflecting the new policy of encouraging citizens to return, Fox said Thursday, “We need you to come home one day and play a part in building a strong Mexico.”

The United States also must play a part in sustaining Mexico’s economic growth. “For marginal workers, leaving his or her country is not an easy proposition. It is not a lark. It is a risky, dangerous proposition, ” says Juan M. Del Aguila, an Emory University associate professor of political studies. “If we can create incentives for them to stay in their own country, many of these potential immigrants would.”

In boom states like Georgia, it’s been painless to absorb Mexican immigrants. But in the unlikely scenario that the economy hits the skids, migrant labor — whether illegally coming from Mexico or legally from rural Alabama — could snatch jobs away from the local unskilled labor pool.

; ” Unlike the varied landscapes and cultures of European Union members, the United States, Canada and Mexico already share a great deal in common, and language is not as great a barrier. President Bush, for example, is quite comfortable with the blended Mexican-Anglo culture forged in the border states of Texas, California and Arizona.

Of the three North American players, the United States clearly holds the place of dominance. By joining with its neighbors to the north and south, the United States would have the strongest voice in coordinating fiscal, energy and drug enforcement polices that affect the continent.

An erroneous public perception exists that Mexico would be the main beneficiary of a U.S.-Mexico partnership. In the aftermath of the 8-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico has become the third-largest importer of Georgia products, $1.2 billion worth of goods last year. Mexico is the United States’ second-largest trading partner.

“Fundamentally, our economic integration with Mexico is inevitable, ” says Emory’s Sheth. “Out of nowhere, Mexico has become a $200 billion a year trade partner. We think that will grow to $500 billion.”

“If you look at the European process, not all countries benefit equally all the time, ” says Del Aguila. “But the commonwealth as a whole has improved, the standard of living has risen.”

Historically, immigration has enriched America culturally and economically, as demonstrated most recently by the Cubans in South Florida. The challenge with Mexico is to better manage the natural flow of a people who are not only America’s fastest-growing immigrant group, but also its closest neighbors.

“Our choice is to fight it and lose, ” says Georgia State University economics professor David Sjoquist, “or embrace it and all come out better for it.”AJC a