Bannister Fiddles While Gwinnett Burns
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Do you hear that? Silence. It is the sound of Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charles Bannister’s response to the revelation that “Success Lives Here” apparently applies to Mexican drug cartels as well. Drug smugglers have found Gwinnett to be the perfect distribution point for cocaine and marijuana to the eastern seaboard, and a stopping point for millions in cash flowing back across the border.
Why? Only three reasons, actually. First, Gwinnett has the largest Hispanic community in the southeast, many of whom are here illegally. Second, the housing supply along major transportation corridors makes it easy to establish way stations for drugs and cash.
Finally, Bannister’s utter and inexcusable failure to respond to the growing threat has allowed the drug cartels to operate with relative impunity. For the past four years, Bannister has ignored calls for aggressive ordinances to eliminate the primary attractions for illegal aliens—jobs and the easy access to public services. Pandering to his financial backers in the business community, Bannister has failed to protect this county from the growing threat.
More than $30 million has been seized in drug money in Atlanta this fiscal year, more than any other city in the county. The Mexican cartels are using stash houses around Atlanta for their drugs before they are moved up the East Coast. Taking advantage of Gwinnett’s large Hispanic community, the cartels manage to blend in, making cracking down on them tough. [Full story]
At present, violent crime associated with the drug trafficking has been confined, for the most part, to the participants in the drug trade. But it is only a matter of time before the warring between rival cartels in Mexico spills over into a turf battle in Gwinnett, where innocent citizens are sure to be hurt. Local police officers will tell you that the battles have already begun.
A New Phenomena? Not Hardly
The recent report by the federal government on cartel activity in Gwinnett is just the latest warning to the County Commission. In December 2007, concerned citizens begged Bannister and the Commission to act. In August 2008, federal authorities warned that Gwinnett was a hub for cartel activity and that violence could be expected to increase.
In September 2008, Edgar Rodriguez-Alejandro of Lawrenceville was indicted by federal authorities as the alleged leader of an Atlanta operation that coordinated drug and cash transactions. His arrest was part of a federal investigation of the Gulf Cartel that resulted in more than 500 alleged members of its operation being arrested. Authorities also seized more than 16 tons of cocaine, 25 tons of marijuana, 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and $60 million in U.S. currency.
As early as May 2006, I conducted a rally in Duluth that drew the attention of local and national media. I personally called on the County Commission to address illegal aliens’ impact on the local economy and public services. And I am sure that I wasn’t the first to raise the issue with county leaders.
Not Too Late for Aggressive Action
Sheriff Butch Conway is currently pursuing acceptance into the federal 287(g) program, which would provide training for his deputies to identify illegal alien arrestees and begin deportation procedures. Last year, the Commission honored Conway’s request for additional manpower to staff the program, despite Bannister’s effort to limit funding.
But 287(g) isn’t the most effective or cost-efficient enforcement tool available to us; just the sexiest. The County Commission could easily implement the following policies to eliminate the attraction, causing Hispanic illegal aliens to leave the county and thereby removing the cover that the drug cartels currently enjoy:
1. Require all business license applicants to certify eligibility: The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (formerly SB529) requires state and local governments to verify that business license applicants are legal residents. Improperly (in my opinion) interpreting the state law, the county only requires sole proprietor and sole member LLC applicants to certify eligibility; partnerships and corporations are exempt from examination. An illegal alien can still receive a business license in Gwinnett simply by putting a second name on the application… no one will check. [Details]
The county could legitimately interpret the law to apply to all partners in a business entity and all officers of a corporation, and should do so immediately.
2. Require business license renewal applicants to certify: The county is failing to require license renewal applicants of any business type to certify eligibility, in clear violation of the GSICA. A license renewal applicant is no less the recipient of a public benefit than the first-time applicant. As a result, illegal aliens who currently hold Gwinnett business licenses will continue to do so under Bannister’s policy.
3. Require Gwinnett cities to obey state law. Not a single Gwinnett municipality has fully complied with the GSICA regarding both the verification of its own workers’ employment eligibility and the verification of applicants for public benefits like business licenses. Currently, illegal aliens can receive a business license in any of Gwinnett’s cities; no questions asked. As a part of any intergovernmental service agreement, the county should require that the cities fully comply with state law or risk losing grants or other funding.
4. Require all applicants for a business license to enroll in E-Verify: Applicants for a business license or renewal of same should be required to first enroll in the federal E-Verify program for the verification of the employment eligibility of its new hires. Failure to maintain enrollment in E-Verify would result in the suspension or revocation of the license. Establish a complaint process whereby any citizen can file a written, signed complaint regarding an alleged unauthorized worker; and a process for investigation and resolution.
5. Prohibit harboring of illegal aliens: Adopt an ordinance making it unlawful to harbor an illegal alien, to include renting or leasing to an illegal alien. Single-family residential, apartments and hotel rooms are included.
6. Issue an occupancy license. Potential renters must first obtain a license. License applicants who are citizens must certify, under oath, that they are eligible to receive the public benefit. Non-citizen applicants will be verified through the federal SAVE program. The owner or manager of any rental unit is prohibited from renting to any person who does not have an occupancy permit for that residence.
[Current Georgia law may prohibit the adoption of ordinances affecting rental to illegal aliens. If so, county officials must aggressively pursue changes in the law through the Gwinnett delegation to the State Legislature. In the interim, the owners of any real property leased or rented for profit should be required to hold a business license.]
7. Adopt a local enforcement and anti-sanctuary ordinance: Establish a policy of full cooperation between county law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement agencies. Require verification of the immigration status of persons detained for violations of state or county law. Prohibit restrictions on official communication by county officials and personnel with federal immigration authorities.
8. Aggressively enforce the property maintenance ordinance: The presence of illegal aliens in our neighborhoods has a direct and measurable correlation to the physical condition of residential structures with the neighborhood. Properties harboring illegal aliens are often not maintained or are visibly altered to house more people. The Commission must commit to aggressive enforcement of the ordinance, giving particular attention to evidence of harboring.
9. Require the recipients of any public monies to certify compliance with state and local law: Under the GSICA, the recipients of public contracts are required to participate in E-Verify for the verification of any employee working in the public contract. The county should likewise require that any recipients of public monies (non-profit organizations, for example) participate in E-Verify and also ensure that services funded by public monies are not provided to illegal aliens.
To the extent allowed by state and federal law and to the extent that funding is provided, the county should require higher educational institutions within the county to bar enrollment or eligibility for financial aid to an illegal alien.
10. School system must verify eligibility for public benefits: The school system is most likely required to verify the citizenship status and eligibility of any applicant for the public benefit of a free or reduced lunch. The School Board should immediately determine what benefits that it does provide are subject to the GSICA.
The ten items described above are certainly not the only actions that Chairman Bannister and other authorities should take immediately to address the problem, but the easiest to implement. Local governments have more extensive authority than is generally recognized to enforce federal immigration law and to enact statutes that prohibit activities that are also unlawful under federal law. It is inexcusable, therefore, that Bannister has allowed Mexican drug cartels to establish the foothold in this county that they have.
Finally, the Bannister administration must rethink its spending. I am confident that Gwinnett taxpayers facing a three-mill tax increase this year would rather Bannister spend their tax dollars on law enforcement than on a light rail study, GPS in county vehicles, a “Go Green Initiative” and a tennis center. [Source]
What You Can Do
Contact Charles Bannister and insist that he do something today. You can email all Commissioners at once via this form. Send them the link to this article (shortened URL: http://bit.ly/dqV4D ).
If you live within a Gwinnett city, contact your City Council and demand that they comply with state law regarding the verification of applicants for business licenses. Likewise, encourage them to verify their own employees as well as require any vendors doing business with them to participate in E-Verify. Finally, you should insist that they require any business receiving a city license to enroll in E-Verify.
Mexico’s Drug War Hits Home | The Emory Wheel
Enacted two years ago, the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act did not include any provision for enforcement. As a consequence, Georgia cities and counties were in no hurry to comply with the law. House Bill 2, currently pending before the Senate Public Safety Committee, is intended add some teeth to the original bill.
HB-2 is opposed by both the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), the organization that represents cities at the State House, and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG). Both are powerful lobbying groups and, unfortunately in this instance, hold great influence over your state representatives and senators. The bill has already been weakened by amendments promoted by the two groups.
If you would want Georgia’s cities and counties to obey the law regarding verifying their own employees as well as applicants for public benefits like business licenses, you should encourage your state representatives to pass this bill. Use these forms to contact all Gwinnett Representatives (here) and Senators (here).
“We found a dead body in the living room and a dead body in the den. The floor was covered with kilo wrappers [for drugs] and there was a money-counting machine set to count hundred-dollar bills… There were mattresses on the bedroom floor, a pickup in the garage and big buckets of charcoal placed throughout the house to absorb the odor of cocaine.”
A drug-processing house in Juarez, Mexico, right? No, actually a house on Village Green Court off Arcado Road… just two streets over from Chairman Charles Bannister’s residence in Lilburn…
Read the full story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-cartel_bdmar29,0,6179107.story