By John Fredericks / Staff

The Fulton County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution opposing Arizona Senate Bill 1070, commonly known as the Arizona anti-immigration law.

But the leading Republican candidates for Georgia Governor see it differently, agreeing in a Saturday night Gwinnett County forum that the state should follow the lead of Arizona and crack down on illegal immigrants.

Fulton County’s resolution, sponsored by District 5 Commissioner Emma I. Darnell, describes the Arizona bill as “permitting and encouraging” racial profiling.

Fulton County’s resolution also states that the Arizona bill is "irreconcilable with Fulton County’s commitment to a justice system that is color blind to race, color, ethnicity or national origin."

 Darnell said of the resolution, "The subject legislation is not simply “Anti-Immigration”; it is also Anti-American. Whatever may be the law and practice in other countries, in America; you cannot be stopped because of the “suspicion” of the Government. There must be a reason - and the reason may not be the color of your skin."           

She added, "Fulton County is one of the most diverse communities in the nation. However, the Board of Commissioners should oppose the Arizona Law not because of who we are – but rather because of what we are and what we believe – as citizens of the United States."    

REPUBLICANS TO COMMISSONERS: HUH?  

    Karen Handel, John Oxendine, Nathan Deal and Eric Johnson all asserted that Georgia should indeed adopt the hard-line new Arizona law, which has elicited threats of statewide travel and business boycotts as well as a potential U.S. Justice Department lawsuit. The Arizona statute requires law enforcement officials to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally.

"Simply put, it is the duty of law enforcement to enforce the law,'' Oxendine said.

Deal reminded voters that he's sponsored legislation in Congress that would end the practice of granting automatic citizenship for children of illegal immigrants born in the United States.

Johnson and Handel dredged up the recent public relations flap concerning a Kennesaw State University enrollee who was paying a lower tuition as state resident but was actually illegally in the U.S. Both candidates ravaged college executives for sloppy paperwork and slipshod standards.

"She is using a tax subsidized slot that could go to Georgians and I want to put a stop to it," bellowed Johnson, to loud crowd applause.

Handel asserted the whole affair was "unacceptable'' and promised to find ways to provide local university officials with tools to authenticate legal citizenship. Handel, well known for her crusade to diminish illegal immigrant voter fraud, took no prisoners by threatening to use an executive order if that was her last option.