Georgia Gov. Nathan DealPressure is mounting on Gov. Nathan Deal to remove anti-illegal immigration activist Phil Kent from a newly created board aimed at helping enforce Georgia’s immigration laws.
Kent’s critics have started a petition drive to oust him from the Immigration Enforcement Review Board. Started by Steve Golden of the Young Democrats of Georgia, the petition calls Kent a “nativist” who uses “intense racist imagery to convey his terrible beliefs.”
As of last week, the petition had attracted more than 1,800 signatures. Golden said he plans to present them to Deal. A spokesman for Deal declined to comment Thursday. Kent dismissed the petition as a “fundraising tool” for one of his other critics, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which he calls a “radical left-wing group.”
Kent’s board has been attracting controversy since Deal announced Kent and the other six men who have been appointed to serve in the unpaid positions. That same day, the SPLC condemned Kent’s appointment. The SPLC labeled the organization for which Kent is the national spokesman, Americans for Immigration Control, a hate group.
And on Wednesday, the Anti-Defamation League wrote Deal, asking him to reconsider Kent’s appointment, saying he has a history of making “deeply disturbing” comments about immigrants. The head of Georgia’s Legislative Black Caucus criticized the panel for not being more diverse. All seven of its members are white men.