GOP Georgia governor candidate bringing ‘Deportation Bus Tour’ to state’s sanctuary cities

A Republican candidate in Georgia’s gubernatorial race is bringing what he calls a “Deportation Bus Tour’ to the state’s “sanctuary cities” to tout his support for expediting deportation for immigrants in the United States illegally.

State Sen. Michael Williams’s campaign said in a press release that the tour will “expose how dangerous illegal aliens ruin local economies, cost American jobs, increase healthcare costs and lower education standards.”

Williams says in a commercial for the tour that his deportation plan will “fill this bus with illegals to send them back to where they came from.”

{mosads}“We’re not just going to track them and watch them roam around our state,” Williams says. “We’re going to put them on this bus and send ‘em home.”

Williams, a former co-chair of President Trump’s campaign in Georgia, is a staunch supporter of the federal 287(g) immigration program, in which state and local law-enforcement agencies work closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to hand over immigrants without legal status who were arrested on crimes unrelated to immigration.

In the press release, Williams’s campaign praises him as “the most outspoken anti-illegal candidate in Georgia’s history.”

Sanctuary cities — those that dod not cooperate with federal immigration authorities — have been at the center of the national conversation on immigration. The Justice Department announced earlier this year a lawsuit against California over the state’s sanctuary laws. Trump has called on Congress to block funding for the cities.

Williams is one of seven GOP candidates vying to replace Gov. Nathan Deal (R), who is approaching the end of his second term. A recent University of Georgia poll found that only about 3 percent of voters say they support Williams.