‘Legal immigrant.’
Republican State Sen. John Albers initially misstated the status of a Puerto Rican native.
Note to Georgia GOP lawmakers: Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
The following article appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitutions: Politically Georgia newsletter on Friday, November 1, 2024.
State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, issued a statement mourning the death of slain 25-year-old TikTok fitness star Minelys Zoe Rodriguez-Ramirez, whose body was found a week after she went missing in Habersham County.
Albers was quoted in the statement referring to the victim as a “legal immigrant from Puerto Rico who followed every step of the process to live and work in the United States.” He went on to slam Democratic immigration policies.
That’s much the same language Republicans use to praise people who immigrate legally to the United States. Except as a Puerto Rican native, Rodriguez-Ramirez is a U.S. citizen at birth—and not an immigrant, legal or otherwise.
The statement was later updated to take out that language, but we heard from several Puerto Ricans who said it was just another indignity for an island territory of more than 3 million people that’s long been mistreated.
Just days earlier, a comedian at former President Donald Trump’s “closing message” event in New York made a racist joke about Puerto Rico that drew stinging backlash from Latino advocate groups and Democrats in Georgia.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
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10800 Alpharetta Hwy Ste 208 #629
Roswell, GA 30076-1467
jdjordan@forthe56.com
706.804.0456
