Democrat candidate for GA Sec of State Bee Nguyen's bill to document “the undocumented” *Updated

No Republican sponsors for driver’s cards and state ID to illegal aliens bill yet

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*Update July 5, 2022: Nguyen has also staked out her position on immigration enforcement.

“A Georgia Democratic nominee repeatedly called to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and argued that carrying out the country’s immigration laws is rooted in “white supremacy” and “xenophobia.”

Washington Free Beacon, Judy 5, 2022

“This Georgia Dem Wants To Abolish ICE and ‘Shut Down’ Illegal Immigrant Detention Centers

Bee Nguyen called immigration enforcement agency ‘rogue,’ ‘cruel’ – read the full story HERE.

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Democrat Rep and candidate for Secretary of State Bee Nguyen (“Access, Equity, Efficiency”) wants to give drivers licenses (“Driver’s Cards”) and state ID cards to Georgia’s estimated 400,000-ish illegal aliens. That’s the goal of her HB 833, that was introduced three days before the end of the 2021 legislative session. The measure would include commercial driver’s licenses (“Drivers Cards”) for the illegals. Yes, it is still illegal to employ illegal aliens. Nguyen calls it the “Freedom to Drive Act.”

Bee Nguyen’s bill is so ridiculous that we assume it is more of a campaign maneuver than a serious attempt at legislative success. The illegal alien lobby loves it. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute loves it. The liberal Atlanta Journal Constitution loves it and is carrying out an aggressive sales campaign. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce loves it – but quietly. So far, the bill has no Republican cosponsors.

In today’s “new Georgia” a candidate to lead the state office that organizes and oversees all election activity, including voter registration and municipal, state, county, and federal elections is trying to document “the undocumented.” And she is willing to accept the unverifiable ID foreign governments give to illegal aliens as acceptable documents obtain that documentation. An example is the Mexican matricula consular ID.

How insecure are the Mexican matricula consular cards? I have two of them.

In 2003 testimony titled “Consular ID Cards in a Post-9/11 World” the FBI told congress the matricula consular is “not a reliable form of identification.” Also in Nguyen’s bill is a provision to accept passports issued to illegal aliens by foreign governments after they cross our borders illegally and set up housekeeping in Georgia.

Illegal aliens would also be allowed to bring in phone bills, rent receipts and deportation related papers to “prove” their identity and residence on applications for Bee Nguyen’s proposed new Georgia ID.

Nguyen and her cosponsors are apparently hoping to move Georgia closer to becoming the California of the east. We call it “Georgiafornia.” In 2004 Tennessee Democrats tried the “drivers cards” and ID to illegal aliens idea. They ended that adventure after two years and a federal investigation that exposed the extreme level of fraud, bribery and the fact that illegal aliens from other states were flocking to Tennessee to get “documented.” Georgia is already home to more illegal aliens than Arizona. Most of us don’t want to make it easier for them to vote.

In Bee Nguyen’s proposed change to state law, documents used by illegal aliens on the application for ID and driving credentials could not be used for a state criminal investigation unless there was an order by a federal judge. That includes the application itself.

This dangerous bill would be laughed out of a legislative committee in Mexico where illegal aliens have a zero chance of legally obtaining driving credentials. – It should be treated with even less seriousness here.

HB 833 text.

Sponsors: Nguyen, Bee , Schofield, Kim 60^th , Lim, Marvin 99^th , Park, Sam 101^st, Marin, Pedro “Pete” 96th6 , Boddie, William 62^nd

Rep. Bee Nguyen is going in the wrong direction. This is a clear effort to make Georgia even more illegal alien-friendly and to appeal to the far left. It’s an anti-enforcement immigration bill.

Nguyen’s bill expands on existing Republican policy

It is important to know that Republican-ruled Georgia already quietly issues drivers licenses and ID cards to about 20,000 illegal aliens who are DACA recipients. They are identical to the documents given to legal immigrants and guest workers and foreign students here on legal, temporary visas.

Pro-enforcement voters should be active in stopping Nguyen’s dangerous legislation.

There is a much better idea in the works

Update July 5, 2022: HB 228 described below was killed by GOP leadership in the Georgia House without ever seeing a committee vote.

Rep Charlice Byrd. Photo: Ga General Assembly

For additional voter and identification security, we direct attention to the pending HB 228 sponsored by Rep Charlice Byrd (R, Woodstock) which would mark all non-citizen driving and ID credentials, with “BEARER NOT U.S.CITIZEN – NOT FOR VOTING PURPOSES.”

Amazingly, Rep Byrd’s common sense bill did not come out of the House ‘Committee on Election Integrity’ in the 2021 session. It is still alive for 2022, but faces baseless and ill-informed resistance from the Republican leadership.

Georgians concerned about election integrity should be pressing for passage of Byrd’s bill.

“It is testament to the tenacity, funding and power of the school choice advocates that including illegals in a proposed new state benefit program is even being discussed.”

A battle is coming between the Georgia Republicans who are pushing “school choice” at any cost and pro-enforcement conservatives who refuse to reward and encourage more illegal immigration into Georgia. Expanding benefits for illegal aliens does exactly that. The lobbying money is on the “include the illegals” side. All too often, the truth isn’t.

Despite what Georgians may be told, the 1982 Plyer V Doe Supreme Court decision only requires states to provide public school tuition to K-12 students regardless of immigration status.

A word of experienced advice to readers who may favor “putting parents in charge of education…” but take the pro-enforcement view of the debate: You can save yourself a lot of attacks as being “anti-school choice” if you make clear your opposition to rewarding illegal immigration early in any discussion on the topic.

We don’t allow illegal aliens to access the Hope Scholarship, the Zell Miller Scholarship, or instate tuition in our taxpayer-funded public colleges. Why do some Republicans want to welcome illegal alien families with discretionary, taxpayer-funded K-12 private school benefits? It is testament to the tenacity, funding and power of the school choice advocates that including illegals in a proposed new state benefit program is even being discussed.

This writer attended a seminar on school choice last fall in Marietta and got the “whole enchilada” presentation and was surprised to see several well-known Georgia Republicans -including former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler – featured as presenters. I still don’t know the answer to the above question. But I can report that the ongoing illegal immigration catastrophe was completely avoided in the program and there was no Q&A session. I did hear it said that “we are all Americans.”

Related: School choice legislation is likely from Georgia lawmakers this session

We are not aware of any position the new leadership under the Gold Dome has taken on delivering state funds to illegal alien families for use as K-12 tuition payments to private schools. A great deal of time and trouble could be saved if Georgians could get a signal on this from the new Speaker or the new Lt. Governor – or Gov. Kemp.

Influential national radio show host Erick Erickson predicted a win for commonsense: “I’m fairly certain the Republicans aren’t going to fund illegal aliens going to private school…” was part of the response from Erickson last year to an on-air alert from this writer about the absence of language to exclude illegals in then-pending state legislation.

Soon after that public forecast from Erickson, there were various versions of poorly written and unworkable language purporting to exclude illegal aliens from the proposed “school choice” legislation offered in three separate bills in 2021-2022 General Assembly. So, it’s clear that most members of both chambers are aware of the concern.

Readers who have not heard one of the school choice sales programs for what is also known as “educational freedom” and “fund students, not systems” may want to consider attending an Americans for Prosperity event on the matter this evening in Alpharetta. It looks like presenters will include lobbyist and former GOP state Rep Buzz Brockway and Forsyth County school board member Mike Valdes.

If you go: I’ll wash your car if you let us know if there is any mention of illegal immigration or that according to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, there are only six states with a higher illegal population than Georgia.

One online advertisement for the AFP event includes a reminder of a January proclamation of “School Choice Week” (Jan 22-28) from Gov. Kemp. The proclamation does not say if the governor would sign a bill that provides state funds for future “undocumented workers” to pay K-12 private school tuition.

Neither does it say if a law that excluded illegal aliens from any state-funded school choice benefit would be enforced. Many state laws aimed at illegal immigration aren’t.