ATLANTA - One of the Republicans running for Governor Thursday endorsed incentives for local law enforcement in the state to sign up for the controversial federal immigration enforcement program in place in four Georgia counties.
That's the 287g program used in Hall, Gwinnett, Cobb and Whitfield counties to identify and detail illegal immigrants. And, Eric Johnson wants to require all state law enforcement agencies to participate in it.
In addition, he called for Georgia's colleges and universities to have to verify the immigration status of their students and he wants to require elementary and secondary schools to collect citizenship data on enrolling students, as well.
Johnson said Thursday he would also require public hospitals to find out which patients are in the country legally.
Johnson says he wouldn't deny education to any K-12 students or medical care to those in an emergency room. But he argues it would allow the state to figure out the costs of providing services to illegal immigrants. And he says the reporting could deter illegal immigrants from coming to Georgia in the first place.
Johnson says if the Congress won't work to secure the nation's border as governor he will.
Johnson issued a six-point plan during a news conference in Atlanta:
· Incentivize local law enforcementâ
Wednesday
October 9th, 2024
4:23PM
