State Rep. John Yates: Border guards should ‘shoot to kill’

• Georgia House Communications

Be proud, Georgians. One of your state lawmakers recently brought the crazy.

At a recent political forum, state Rep. John Yates, R-Griffin, said the National Guard and border agents should be allowed to “shoot to kill” to stop people from crossing illegally into the United States. Fliers could be dropped in Mexico to warn people about the new change in immigration policy. (You can watch Yates deliver his comments here.)

From Fox 5:A moderator at a candidate forum in Douglas County asked candidates what their recommendations were for addressing illegal immigration in Georgia.

State Representative John Yates focused on the border and National Guard stationed there to help secure it.

“They ought to be armed and if warned leaflets dropped all over Mexico says that we will shoot to kill if anybody crosses and be serious about this and if they do that then there won’t be anybody killed,” Yates said during the forum.
Yates, a World War II veteran, defended his comments in a follow-up interview. And then he invoked Godwin’s Law and brought Hitler into the whole mess:

Yates likened illegal immigrants to enemies of the country.

“Stopping Hitler was worth the price,” Yates said. “It’s our border, they’re invading us.”The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and the Anti-Defamation League have condemned Yates’ comments.

“The hate speech about undocumented workers has moved from the extreme edges of the debate into the mainstream,” ADL Southeast Regional Director Bill Nigut said in a statement. “The fact that an elected official of the Georgia General Assembly would feel comfortable about making such outrageous remarks proves that point.

He added: “Comparing Mexicans crossing the border illegally to Hitler’s army is grossly offensive to Jews and others who suffered the tragic consequences of the Nazi’s so-called ‘Final Solution.’”

It should be noted that Georgia lawmakers have absolutely no say whatsoever in how the United States protects its borders.