Liberal AJC provides partial coverage in promo report on 'Americans last' instate tuition bill #HB932

Update March 14, 2022: Americans win one in GOP Georgia. HB 932 is as dead as Pancho Villa.

The AJC editors and this reporter omit the fact that the below covered legislation does not change the existing law that requires Americans who move to Georgia to wait a year to be eligible for the instate tuition.

Because the AJC didn’t, let us tell you about tuition costs.

“For academic year 2020-2021, the average tuition & fees for Colleges in Georgia is $4,739 for in-state and $17,008 for out-of-state. The amount is lower than national average. The 2021 national average is $6,852 for in-state students and $17,943 for out-of-state students.” Here.

* HB 932 would allow refugees, foreigners here on Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) and Afghans on “humanitarian parole” to be excluded from the current state law and BOR policy that says newly arrived college students must be GA residents for 12 months before they can access the much lower instate tuition rate in Georgia’s public colleges and tech schools. (The Special Immigrant Visa grants permanent residence to foreign nationals who claim to have helped the U.S. government abroad).

HB 932 does not cover Americans and immigrants outside the above description who move to Georgia from other states– they would still be required to pay the higher tuition rate for public colleges/tech schools for the first year of their residence. HB 932 is sponsored by Republican Rep Wes Cantrell and has Democrat cosponsors. We regard HB 932 as un-American.

The Dustin Inman Society opposes HB 932.

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GEORGIA NEWS

By Lautaro Grinspan, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jan 31, 2022

Lawmakers introduce bill to help refugees attend Georgia colleges

Legislation would help refugees qualify for more affordable in-state tuition rates as soon as they settle in the state.

Members of the Georgia House rolled out legislation earlier this month that would boost refugees’ access to public higher education in the state.

House Bill 932 seeks to extend in-state tuition rates to refugee students at the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia as soon as they settle in the state. Under U.S. law, refugees are people who must relocate from their home country because of humanitarian concerns.

HB 932 would similarly extend immediate access to in-state tuition to Afghan citizens who have humanitarian parole, as well as to Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) recipients. These are individuals who have worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Afghanistan or Iraq. Benefiting from any of the aforementioned immigration programs means recipients are living in Georgia lawfully. Currently, they must abide by a one-year waiting period after settling in Georgia to establish residency and qualify for the lower in-state tuition rates, which are roughly three times smaller than their out-of-state counterparts.

“They’ve still got to get admitted, but they wouldn’t have to wait a year for the tuition rates to go down,” the bill’s main sponsor, Rep. Wes Cantrell, R-Woodstock, said. “Why not give them a little bit of a hand up to try to get their schooling started right away so that hopefully they can become a productive member of our state?”

HB 932 is the first piece of legislation to come out of a bipartisan House study committee that met last year to examine workforce development issues among foreign-born Georgians, including barriers to education and professional training.

In Georgia and across the country, the pace of the post-COVID economic recovery has been slowed by the persistent challenge of labor shortages.

“We currently have more jobs in Georgia available than we have people to fill them. A lot of small business owners are telling me, ‘We need access to more labor,’” Cantrell said. “All [refugees] want to do is work. They want to live the American dream.” Easing their access to education could help make that happen.

In a statement, Darlene Lynch, Chair of the Business & Immigration for Georgia (BIG) Partnership, a coalition of Georgia businesses and civic leaders, said she supports HB 932′s passing.

“Georgia businesses across the state are struggling with workforce shortages, and HB 932 is a much-needed tool for building the talent pipeline,” she wrote. “Georgia refugees bring skills and talents to the state from countries around the world. Many of these young people have put their education on hold due to war and conflict, and they’re eager to restart their schooling, build their skills, and get into the workforce to support themselves and their families.”

Although he views the bill, which has yet to be heard in committee, as a “no brainer,” Rep. Cantrell says he has already registered significant pushback. He is not “overconfident” it will pass, in part because of how polarizing discussions on immigration-related issues can be…. The rest here.

—>UPDATE: The liberal AJC prints a lengthy correction after demand letter from the Dustin Inman Society. More news on this coming soon.

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Daily Signal News report (‘DEFAMATORY’: Conservative Demands Swing-State Newspaper Retract ‘Hate Group’ Smear’)
on the recent AJC attack here by the great Tyler O’Neil.

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I added educational hyperlinks to the below letter – dak.

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October 18, 2024

VIA U.S. REGULAR MAIL & E-MAIL

Leroy Chapman, Jr., Editor in Chief THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION 223 Perimeter Center Pkwy NE Atlanta, Georgia 30346

Re: Demand for Retraction and Apology

Dear Mr. Chapman, Jr.:

I write on behalf of my client, the Dustin Inman Society (DIS), to demand an immediate retraction and apology for the defamatory statements published in your October 7, 2024, article titled “Democrats in this Georgia district are backing a write-in candidate” by Tia Mitchell.

Through use of internet links, the AJC article wrongfully characterizes the Dustin Inman Society as a “Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group.” This characterization is false, defamatory, and published with actual malice. The Dustin Inman Society pushes for secure borders, is not “anti-immigration” and its proprietors do not hate anyone. Rather, DIS advocates for enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and actively opposes unlawful immigration. This distinction is crucial and well-known to staff at your publication.

I paste the offending paragraph from the AJC story:

“A search of activity under her birth name, Karen Sacandy, which Stamper legally changed in 2019, showed that she previously was aligned with a Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group. The group’s website often linked to Sacandy’s activities, like a letter seeking information about the state’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board and a copy of a letter to the editor supporting legislation to prevent immigrants claiming asylum from obtaining driver’s licenses.”

HEMMER WESSELS MCMURTRY PLLC
250 Grandview Drive, Suite 500, Ft. Mitchell, KY 41017 ● Phone 859.344.1188 ● Fax 859.578.3869

October 18, 2024 Page 2

We note the AJC informs readers that the Dustin Inman Society “often” linked to Karen Sacandy/Kate Stamper activities — but produces only two occasions.

Your story, for which DIS founder and president D.A. King was not contacted, informs readers that Sacandy/Stamper “was aligned” with the Dustin Inman Society. We note that polls show that a majority of Americans oppose the federal offense of illegal immigration. Since the letter posted on the DIS site was a published missive to the editor at the Cherokee Tribune, we must ask: does this make that newspaper a “Cherokee County-based anti-immigration hate group”?

Your characterization demonstrates a reckless and vindictive disregard for the truth, rising to the level of actual malice as defined in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Actual malice in defamation law refers to publication of a statement with knowledge that it is false or with reckless disregard of whether it is false or not. Your repeated mischaracterization of the Dustin Inman Society, despite having been corrected on numerous occasions, clearly meets this standard.

The Dustin Inman Society’s position on immigration is clear and public:

1. It supports sustainable levels of legal immigration through established channels.

2. It opposes unlawful immigration due to various societal concerns, including: – Strain on public resources and services
– Potential and real public safety issues
– Economic impacts on low-wage American workers and America’s poor

– Challenges to the rule of law

3. The Dustin Inman Society defends legal immigrants when media attempt to blur the difference between them and illegal aliens.

Moreover, the Dustin Inman Society’s board includes lawful immigrants who have navigated the proper channels for authorized immigration. This fact alone should dispel any notion that the organization is “anti-immigration.” As he has informed you multiple times over much of the last two decades, D.A. King’s sister is a real, legal immigrant.

While we acknowledge that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the Dustin Inman Society as an “anti-immigrant hate group that denigrates all immigrants,” your article presents the “anti-immigration hate group” characterization as the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s independent assessment and statement of fact.

This smear is not only demonstrably false and ignores Mr. King’s many communications to you advising you of the truth, but also demonstrates an exceedingly unprofessional failure to fact-check and verify information before publication.

We demand that the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

October 18, 2024 Page 3

1. Immediately publicly retract the defaming statement in the October 7, 2024, article.

2. Publish a prominent apology, equal in visibility and placement to the original defamatory article.

3. Cease and desist from further defamatory characterizations of the Dustin Inman Society.

Failure to comply with these demands may result in further legal action. We expect your prompt attention to this matter and await your timely response.

Sincerely,

Todd V. McMurtry

cc: James Abely, Esq.