Citizen Georgia:

Should Gwinnett County be forced to give work to illegal aliens? December 6, 2007

I received an email from the Lorraine Green for Chairman in Gwinnett County.  Some interesting reading about the county commission wanting contractors to follow the law and ensure those they are hiring are here legally. 

Illegal Immigration Fight to Continue

We in Gwinnett County have made an historic move to end the public subsidization of illegal immigration, and that’s too important to go back on now.

Unfortunately, some strongly disagree with our efforts.

Our county has been sued in Federal Court by two large contractor organizations to overturn our Purchasing Ordinance, which requires any company working for Gwinnett County to ensure that their workers are legally eligible to work in the U.S. Yesterday, Federal Judge Clarence Cooper denied the plaintiff’s request to immediately halt implementation of the ordinance, but he did note that, in his opinion, the County ordinance “pre-empted Federal law because it included sanctions.”

A hearing date on the full lawsuit has not yet been set, but is expected to begin within weeks.

As the sponsor of the original ordinance, I am obviously not pleased with the judge’s opinion. I believe the Gwinnett Ordinance simply mandates that vendors follow existing Federal law and only hire legal residents.

The Board of Commissioners simply cannot seem ambiguous about this issue. The Board must send a clear, consistent message to those who disregard the laws of the United States.

These associations are asking that Gwinnett County citizens be forced to provide jobs to illegal immigrants. That’s wrong… just plain wrong. And I don’t believe we as leaders can sit by and not answer this challenge.

The judge has indeed given us food for thought. I will work with our attorneys to address the issue raised by the judge so that Gwinnett can continue to have an ordinance that will help protect our citizens and stand up to legal challenges.

The executive director of one of the groups filing the lawsuit stated they were “ready for some action.” Well, so are the residents of Gwinnett County.
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Community Alert: Please call Gwinnett county Police November 28, 2007

Georgia Cops Impound Anti-Abortion Billboard Truck, Jail Driver
November 26th, 2007
Police action an egregious abuse of power

Atlanta, Georgia – Bob Roethlisberger was arrested and jailed over Thanksgiving weekend in a northern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, on the charge of “Disorderly Conduct” for driving Operation Rescue’s Truth Truck bearing signs with photos of aborted babies. The Truth Truck was impounded.

Gwinnett County Police Department officers arrested Roethlisberger Saturday after telling him that signage on the Truth Truck was “vulgar and obscene.” Officers ransacked the back of the Truth Truck without a warrant and ordered Roethlisberger to change or remove the signs. When he refused, he was arrested and incarcerated for three days before being released on $1,000 bond.

The Truth Truck was released from impound late Monday, however the both the signs and the mounting hardware on the truck were damaged when police forcibly ripped the signs off the sides of the truck. Monetary damage to the property is estimated to be in the thousands of dollars.

“It is obvious that these police officers, under the direction of Major Thomas Bardugon, engaged in a serious incident of unconstitutional content-based discrimination and illegal distruction of property,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “Bob fully cooperated with officers, but refused to compromise on his message, which is unequivocally protected by the First Amendment. The officers misused their authority to punish Bob for expressing a viewpoint that ran counter to theirs. The arrest was nothing less than an egregious abuse of power.”
Newman discussed the matter with Major Bardugon who refused to drop the charges and threatened to arrest Newman if he drove the Truth Truck through Bardugon’s jurisdiction.
The Truth Truck was in Georgia because a recently introduced Human Life Amendment that is scheduled to be considered by the State Legislature in January. The Truth Truck’s mission was to help draw the attention of Georgians to the reality that abortion brutally takes an innocent human life, and emphasize the need to ban the grisly procedure.
Operation Rescue manages a fleet of Truth Trucks that have traveled tens of thousands of miles from coast to coast over the past seven years. The right to display those images has been upheld in courts across the nation, which have also ruled that obscenity laws do not apply to aborted baby images.
“We intend to vigorously fight these unjust charges and will seek a remedy for our property loss,” said Newman. “We cannot allow the illegal use of police authority to bully us into silence, when such silence could cost innocent human lives.”
Please contact the Gwinnett County Police Chief and ask for:
The immediate dismissal of charges against Roethlisberger
The immediate reimbursement for damages to the Truth Truck
An apology