The GA 03 Primary Runoff: Putting Out Inaccurate Fires on Illegal Immigration #MikeDugan

Brain Jack (L) and Mike Dugan, June 2024 GA03 runoff debate.

Illegal immigration creates a great deal of confusion, and it becomes much worse when Georgia’s political leaders don’t take and hold a firm position to not grant any more benefits and privileges to illegal aliens than already required by the feds. A good example is the current confusion surrounding the GA 03 Primary Election runoff between former state Senator Mike Dugan and Trump-endorsed Brian Jack.

It appears there are two separate matters circulating on what legislation Dugan voted for and cosponsored as a state senator involving instate tuition for illegal aliens at Georgia’s taxpayer funded public colleges and another bill that involves the existing Dual Enrollment program. Dual Enrollment includes illegal aliens in the nifty benefit of paying zero tuition in those schools (not even books and fees).

Because it’s so confusing, it seems that the two topics may have become inadvertently intertwined by a few casual observers.

As a Senator, Mike Dugan voted for HB 444 in 2020. HB 444 is now law. The bill dealt with the Dual Enrollment program. Because it grants no-cost college tuition to illegal alien high school students, that gem is in bad need of “reform.”

In 2023 Dugan was number two cosigner on SB 264 which was a Democrat bill that would have removed the existing twelve-month waiting period for some new Georgia residents to qualify for instate tuition. The bill would not have benefitted Americans, but would have allowed refugees, “Special Visa Immigrants (‘SIVs’)”, and recipients of immigration “parole” (see here but we advise reading the entire page) to bypass the new resident waiting period and to become eligible for instate tuition “immediately upon settlement.” SB 264 died in committee.

It is important to know that under current policy both USG and the TCSG policies already allow illegal aliens who have been granted parole to access instate tuition. SB 264 would only have eliminated the waiting 12 month period for them. Again, as I have written previously, the proposed change would not have applied to an American who migrated to Georgia from another U.S. state.

All of the above happened well before the senseless and preventable murder of Laken Riley in February of 2024.

—>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.