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GOP gov. candidates parrot Trump’s lies about immigration and crime

Trump infamously slithered into the White House by building support for his presidential campaign in part by using xenophobic slurs particularly those against Mexican immigrants.

“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” he claimed.

While we know these statements are simply false, Georgia’s conservative gubernatorial candidates in Georgia haven’t gotten the message. Or, more likely, they just don’t care about the truth. They’re still spewing Trump’s bogus, backwards anti-immigration sentiments, regardless of the story the facts actually tell.

“Study after study has shown, however, that immigrants—regardless of where they are from, what immigration status they hold, and how much education they have completed—are less likely than native-born citizens to commit crimes or become incarcerated. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, while the overall percentage of immigrants and the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. both increased sharply between 1990 and 2010, the violent crime rate in the U.S. during that time plummeted 45 percent and the property crime rate dropped by 42 percent. Studies have consistently found that immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans and that there was no correlation between crime rates and levels of immigration.  Other studies have in fact found that crime rates are lowest in states with the highest immigration growth rates.” — Anti-Defamation League

Immigration is likely going to be THE Republican issue in the 2018 governor’s race — the conservative candidates really have nothing to run on, so they’re going back to the old fear and nationalism playbook. 

Brian Kemp

The worst secretary of state in the U.S. Brian Kemp has echoed Trump’s fear-mongering and falsehoods and continued to blindly promise “stricter immigration crackdowns.”

In fact, Kemp kicked off his first round of TV ads by vocally siding with Trump’s xenophobic immigration policies.

“Donald Trump is right – we must secure the border and end sanctuary cities,” Kemp said.

Kemp has also pledged to create a state database to track unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes.

“Don’t worry,” he told the crowd at the GOP debate for governor, “I have a plan to track and immediately deport criminal illegal aliens.

He even spouts the same racist, misguided Trumpian language.

“These people are killing our children, either with drugs or with guns or with deadly assaults,” Kemp said. “It’s time that we put a stop to that.”

Kemp is relying on same dirty tactics as Trump — using flat-out lies, manipulation and fear to rile up conservative voters.

Casey Cagle

Last year Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle filed a complaint against Decatur with the Immigration Enforcement Review Board. He claimed that the city’s officers were violating Georgia’s anti-sanctuary law by not detaining immigrants unless ICE issues a warrant.

However, the city says its longstanding policy doesn’t break the law, and the review board hasn’t yet issued a ruling on the issue.

However, this hasn’t stopped Cagle from congratulating himself at every opportunity.

“[My opponents] say they’re going to crack down on illegal immigration and sanctuary cities — I’ve done it,” Cagle said.

He also said: “Others can talk about [holding these communities responsible], but there’s only one person who has acted on it.”

Like Kemp, Cagle also mentions immigration in his first round of TV ads, claiming he “lead one of the toughest crackdowns on illegal immigration” and “outlawed and defunded sanctuary cities.”

He again mentions protecting Georgians from “criminal illegal aliens” — which has quickly become his catchphrase, despite the fact it’s untrue and unfounded.

Don’t give Trump groupies like Kemp or Cagle a chance to enact their backwards immigration policies. Be sure to cast your vote in the governor’s race on November 6, 2018.

If you aren’t registered to vote, register today. If you aren’t sure, you can check your registration status.

 

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