John Phillip Yates (November 24, 1921 – December 11, 2017) was an American Republican politician who served as a Member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 73rd District from 1993 until 2016.
He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the Army, having fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war, Yates worked for the Ford Motor Company for 35 years.
The Anti-Defamation League and Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials were strongly condemning of the remarks, referring to them as "outrageous", "hate speech", and as "grossly offensive".
[5] Yates later defended his comments in an interview with a news station, stating that "[illegal immigrants] have to [be stopped] some way", drawing the comparison to enemies of the country.