Deal announces Immigration Enforcement Review Board
Today, Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Speaker David Ralston announced their appointees to the Immigration Enforcement Review Board. The board consists of three appointees by Deal, two appointees by Cagle and two by Ralston. Created under HB 87, the panel will review and investigate complaints related to illegal immigration and it will hold the authority to sanction those found to have violated Georgia’s immigration law.
Gov. Deal appointees:
Phil Kent
Kent is president of Phil Kent Consulting, Inc., a public relations and media company based in Atlanta. He is the national spokesman of Americans for Immigration Control and a panelist on the public affairs program, “The Georgia Gang.” Kent also serves as CEO of the American Seniors Association. He is the former president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation and the former press secretary to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. He also previously worked as an editorial page editor and columnist for The Augusta Chronicle. Kent served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He and his wife, Bonnie, reside in Sandy Springs. They have one son and are members of St. Hilda’s Anglican Catholic Church.
Shawn Hanley
Hanley is a former U.S. Marine who served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary to President George W. Bush. He served in Iraq as a political officer with the International Republican Institute and taught Democracy Building courses at Baghdad University in 2005 and 2006. Hanley returned from Iraq and became chairman of the Fulton County Republican Party. A member of the Georgia Veterans Service Board, Hanley runs his own Procurement Consulting firm. He and his wife, Tracy, live in Roswell with their three children.
Ben Vinson
Vinson is an attorney in the Atlanta office of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, where he focuses on political law and state government affairs issues. Prior to joining the firm, Vinson served as Majority Caucus Counsel in the Georgia House of Representatives. He received his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Furman University. Following law school, Vinson clerked for Judge W. Brevard Hand of the United States District Court.
Lt. Gov. Cagle appointees:
Boyd Austin
Austin has served as the mayor of Dallas since 1995. In addition to serving as mayor, he is currently chairman of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District and of the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission Regional Planning Committee. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he is the property manager for Senior Communities Management, Inc. and a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Dallas.
Mike Yeager
Yeager is currently serving his fifth term as sheriff of Coweta County. He previously served with the Newnan Police Department, the Georgia Department of Corrections and the Sheriff’s Office of Criminal Investigations. He is the past president of the Newnan Kiwanis Club and past director of the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife, Beverly, live in Moreland with their two children and are members of Moreland United Methodist Church.
Speaker Ralston appointees:
Robert F. Mumford
Mumford is an attorney with the firm Mumford and Myers. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2005 to 2009. Mumford is a member of the Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyers and the State Bar of Georgia. He is also a member of the Rockdale County Historical Society. Mumford holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Bette Jo, have one child and reside in Conyers.
Terry R. Clark
Clark currently serves as a member of the Colquitt County Commission, to which he was elected in 2006. He is a member of the Lower Flint Ochlocknee Water Council and the Board of Directors of Tifton Quality Peanuts. Clark is a graduate of Abraham Baldwin College and was selected as a 2010 Master Farmer by the ABAC Alumni Association. He and his wife, Diana, have one child. They live in Moultrie.