9/22/2011
Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia has appointed a spokesman for the Georgia Immigration Panel, referred to by critics as a “hate group.” The main function of the panel is to determine if the restrictive new immigration measure of the state is being enforced properly.
The board, which is composed of 7 members, is tasked to investigate any complaint lodged by citizens regarding local governments, as well as law enforcement agencies that are not properly enforcing the tough new immigration law of Georgia, which took effect on July 1.
The mandate of the panel includes subpoena power, the authority to levy fines and revoke the local governments’ charters. According to the spokesman of Gov. Deal, the panel will not have any paid staff or budget except reimbursements for the travel expenses of its members.
The newly appointed spokesman, Phil Kent, is reputed to have once called a group of African asylum seekers as “primitive peoples.” He is the national spokesman for the group Americans for Immigration Control. He is also a former spokesman for Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond from South Carolina and a former newspaper editorial page editor.
Kent is also the executive director of Americans for Immigration Control Foundation and currently serves on the ProEnglish board, an organization that is lobbying to make English the official language of federal, state and local government.
In 2004, He wrote that political refugees coming from other countries should not be welcomed into the United States. Instead, the State Department should direct them to other developing countries.
