HB 120: Kasey Carpenter’s instate tuition for illegal aliens bill is a fraud - Update: This bill is dead

Kasey Carpenter presenting HB 120 to the House Higher Education Committee. Feb 19, 2021

Update: HB 120 is dead. March 18, 2022 – Crossover Day has come and gone and HB 120 is still back in the House High Ed committee where it was returned last year when it failed to see a floor vote. Unless some Kamikaze legislator tries to attach it to live legislation, Pancho Villa is as viable as this ‘Americans last’ legislation. We were happy to have led the fight.

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“It was amazing to see that none of the legislators seemed to note or care that neither “DACA” nor “DACA recipient” appear anywhere in Carpenter’s tuition amnesty bill.”

State Rep Kasey Carpenter (R- Dalton) presented the latest version of his legislation to grant instate tuition to illegal aliens in the House Higher Education Committee last Friday morning. He was on Zoom from his car parked “on the side of the road” somewhere between the Gold Dome and Oklahoma. He was retrieving flour for one of his restaurants.

It got wackier from there.

Carpenter’s opener was to assure all concerned that his legislation rewarding illegal aliens with lower tuition rates than Americans or legal immigrants from most other states pay “is not a bill about immigration.” He went on to outline HB 120 with “all right, so what this bill does, is it, it, it basically allows DACA students that are in Georgia, they graduated from a Georgia high school, to attend certain colleges and universities in the, in the college system, at an in-state tuition rate.”

‘DACA’ is the acronym for the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy put in place by then candidate for reelection, President Barack Obama. The action being deferred is deportation proceedings.

It was more than a little amusing to watch Carpenter pepper his online sales pitch with the terms “DACA” and “DACA recipients.” The same terms were used in the resulting Q&A with gushing Democrat committee members who had only praise for the concept in their questions. It was equally entertaining to see the long line of witnesses – one who is currently a DACA recipient and one who was in the past- stand up in support of the bill inserting the “DACA recipient” term into their testimony.

It was amazing to see that none of the legislators (or the liberal media) seemed to note or care that neither “DACA” nor “DACA recipient” appear anywhere in Carpenter’s tuition amnesty bill.

The entire event would only have been slightly more comical if Rep Carpenter had taken the time to hawk his bill dressed in a wide striped suit with a wink and grin from a used car lot with balloons and a megaphone.

In the current version of his proposed law, Carpenter does have wording that permits illegal aliens to pay less tuition than Americans if they meet “the eligibility criteria set by the United States Department of Homeland Security for deferred action in enforcement of federal immigration laws.” Italics mine.

But, there doesn’t seem to be set eligibility criteria for deferred action on enforcement – it is a discretionary tradition in federal law enforcement and (like DACA) not a result of congressional action. Lines 34 & 35 in HB 120 would be laughed out of a well-informed committee. ‘Journalists’ should not be running stories that report HB 120 somehow applies to “DACA recipients.” It doesn’t.

Deferred action is not DACA. Sometimes it is difficult to decide if things that are just plain screwy are a result of ignorance or intent. Deferred action on immigration enforcement is outside of DACA. In the 1970’s, John Lennon obtained deferred action on immigration enforcement. Update/addition: Retired immigration agent letter to the committee here.

Dalton Rep Kasey Carpenter. Photo: Ga House.

All co-signers are not visible online, but at last check with the House clerk’s office, Carpenter’s instate tuition bill has more Democrat cosponsors than Republicans.

As is, HB120 is a hustle that is fully dependent on the oversupply of immigration ignorance on the part of most of the legislators who govern a state with more “undocumented workers” than live in Arizona. This writer started working with state lawmakers on drafting and perfecting illegal immigration legislation in 2005. HB 120 would not have been allowed a hearing in a Republican – run committee ten years ago.

We were happy to post a very critical analysis of the debut of HB120 along with facts the media is suppressing and fully expected to see changes in the bill as a result.

None of the above is intended to indicate certainty that the bill won’t be passed out of the House Higher Education Committee and onto the floor.

I got a sense of the determination to advance the bill in an early morning discussion with the committee Chairman Chuck Martin (R- Alpharetta) in his office when my request for a copy of any committee substitute language was first dodged then tacitly refused.

Rep. Chuck Martin. Photo: GA General Assembly.

Read HB 120 for yourself

The Committee Substitute version presented on Feb 19, 2021 in the Higher Education Committee is not online and will not be posted on the House website unless it is passed out. I have scanned in and posted the paper version (with my scribbled notes) I was given by a friend who was able to get a copy from the Chairman’s staffers.

Here is a link to the original language. A Fiscal note for HB 120 is available here. It would cost taxpayers a lot of money to provide special treatment to illegal aliens.

We have posted a link to the official video of the entire Friday hearing and a transcript of Rep Carpenter’s presentation on the Dustin Inman Society website.

Space does not allow a list of all the problems with HB 120. But it should be mentioned that ‘DACA recipients’ are nevertheless illegal aliens according to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit. Even the liberal AJC reported that one.

A version of this column originally ran on the subscription news outlet Insider Advantage Georgia on Feb 22, 2021. We are grateful for the space.

D.A. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of Immigration Politics Georgia.

From the Carroll County Star News.

“Is it more irresponsible that moderate Republican Martha Zoller offers up wildly absurd excuses for Kemp’s defiant dereliction of his duty as governor – or that Republican voters remain silent? And how is Republican Kemp any better on illegal immigration than Democrat Joe Biden?

Readers of all descriptions need to know that there is an ignorant attitude and potentially dangerous talking point on illegal immigration circulating under the GOP-ruled Gold Dome and in the Establishment political class. Some elected officials and trusted “conservative” commentators are telling all who will listen that the “don’t worry, it’s not an invasion” invasion at our southern border is “a federal problem.”

Looking back to last session, it is educational to know that multiple bills were passed in the state Senate that would reward and encourage illegal aliens in Georgia.

It is equally important to remember that Georgia is home to more illegals than green card holders and more than Arizona.

When pressed by voters who find the courage to broach the topic with their own elected public servants, many state legislators can be heard responding “there is nothing we can do about illegal immigration on the state or local level!”

This bizarre nonsense should be firmly challenged by voters. To speed that agenda along, while the General Assembly is in session in the coming months there will be specific examples in this space of how treacherous and preposterous this “it’s not our job” attitude really is. As usual, names will be named.

For now, consider the reality that at least one Georgia politician has clearly acknowledged he has the power to address the matter. We should remember all the way back to 2018 when Gov. Kemp was candidate Kemp and recall his campaign ads that led with his solemn promise on what he would do about the crime problem generated by illegal aliens. Kemp promised to go after what he referred to then as “criminal illegals” and to create a public database of that group in Georgia. He pledged to end sanctuary city policies and to work to pass state legislation that would speed up the system that puts illegal aliens into the federal deportation system.

Here are some of Brian Kemp’s exact words from five years ago in describing the promised “Kemp Track and Deport Plan.”

“As governor conservative businessman Brian Kemp will create a comprehensive database to track criminal aliens in Georgia. He will also update Georgia law to streamline deportations from our jails and prisons.”

Brian Kemp’s criminal alien database summary:

Aggregates data from state, local and federal law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies.
Tracks the number of arrests, convictions, deportations and categorizes the crimes committed by criminal aliens.
Destroy silos and provides new law enforcement with sophisticated tools to track organized crime, gang, cartel connections…
Creates valuable data for lawmakers to develop common sense legislation that curbs illegal immigration in Georgia.
Includes opportunities for partnership with President Trump and local universities.”
Readers paying attention may have noticed that not only has Kemp ignored every part of the above promises, but that to this writer’s attentive knowledge, he has not mentioned illegal immigration in Georgia since 2018.

On the topic of bizarre nonsense, please also consider the lengths to which at least one Kemp acolyte has gone to concoct an argument for defending the governor, now in his second term.

Republican radio show host explains Kemp’s refusal to honor his 2018 pledge on ‘criminal illegals’

Republican stalwart and influential Gainesville radio show host Martha Zoller (WDUN- 9-11 AM weekdays and online) says illegal immigration has increased so much that Brian Kemp had to abandon his campaign promises on “criminal illegals” and ending sanctuary cities in Georgia. She has promoted this idea more than once on the air and says discussing Kemp’s betrayal is “wasting time.”

Zoller, a Kemp appointee to the state school board, has repeatedly expressed her irritation on-air with this writer for failing to forget Gov Brian Kemp’s many detailed promises on addressing “criminal illegals.” A former Kemp staffer, she says “he had to change his tactics” (because there are so many illegals). She has promoted this idea more than once on the air and says discussing Kemp’s betrayal is “wasting time.”

For those who need a recap, Talker’s Magazine 2023 Woman of The Year Martha Zoller is advising her trusting audience that Biden’s open borders have apparently made ending illegal sanctuary policies in Georgia, creating a public database of “criminal illegals” and sending legislation (“Brian Kemp’s Track and Deport Plan“) to the General Assembly an outdated, non-priority concept.

Sanctuary city policies are already illegal under at least two state laws. Georgia’s governor is not enforcing them.

So, closing questions: Is it more irresponsible that moderate Republican Martha Zoller offers up wildly absurd excuses for Kemp’s defiant dereliction of his duty as governor – or that Republican voters remain silent? And how is Republican Kemp any better on illegal immigration than Democrat Joe Biden?

The above column was published in the November 13, 2023 issue of the Carroll County Star News.