Border policy proved a prominent subject at the Columbia County Precinct Caucus, Saturday morning, at Stevens Creek Church.
In his address to attendees, Congressman Rick Allen made mention of the recent murder of Augusta University student Laken Riley at the University of Georgia campus in Athens, urging voters to support the HR 2 bill, also called the Secure the Border Act. Over the weekend Jose Antonio Ibarra, a non-U.S. citizen, was charged for the murder.
The bill, which passed through the House last year with no Democratic support, would limit asylum eligibility and implement an electronic verification system to screen out undocumented employees.
“Why don’t you write your senators, and demand that those senators tell [Majority Senate Leader Chuck] Schumer to take up our HR 2, which we passed last May, and stop this nonsense,” said the congressman. “See what they’ve got to say. Let’s put them on the spot, folks.”
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The event invited Columbia County Republican voters to gather and elect delegates and alternates for the upcoming county GOP convention on March 23, during which voters may elect delegates for the 12th District Convention in Augusta on April 20. The state convention, held in Columbus, Ga., will be on May 17 – 18.
“We’re attempting to elect Georgia representatives to the RNC (Republican National Convention),” said Joe Edleman, the Columbia County Republican Party’s commission district chair. “That’s our end goal. So this builds up we start at the grassroots level, but then we end at the national level.”
Georgia House District 125 candidates C.J. earson and Gary Richardson were both present to address the crowd amid their respective campaigns leading to the runoff election on March 12.
Vying for the seat left vacant by former Rep. Barry Fleming in January, Pearson and Richardson came out 302 votes apart after the initial special election on Feb. 13.
Pearson also invoked the news of the murder and the arrest in Athens to talk about border and immigration policy.
“Under President Joe Biden, every single state in this country has become a border state,” said Pearson. “Every single town in this country has become a border town, and we have to make explicitly clear that for any illegal alien that comes to Georgia, we don’t believe in catch and release, we believe in catch and deport.”
Richardson appealed to his eight-year experience serving on the Columbia County Board of Commissioners, his conservative values, his support of Donald Trump and a hefty catalogue of endorsements ranging from fellow commissioners Connie Melear and Doug Duncan to Governor Brian Kemp.
“I said I will support whoever the [Republican presidential] nominee is, and we all know who the nominee is going to be,” Richardson said. “I will be voting for Donald Trump. I voted for Donald Trump in ‘16 and voted for Donald Trump in ‘20.”
Pearson, 21, emphasized his outreach, particularly to younger voters and the Black community, as well as his own loyalty to Trump.
“I don’t have the luxury of reading off a long list of endorsements from elected officials here today,” Pearson said. “Like President Trump in 2016… not the establishment’s choice, and ironically enough, like Governor Kemp in 2018 when he wasn’t the establishments choice, the people that actually mattered most to me in this campaign are the people that live in District 125.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
