Kennewick City Council candidate Loren Nichols says he "will not yield" and will continue his campaign to rid the city and country of illegal immigrants despite a wave of outrage about his proposal to use lethal force to secure U.S. borders.

Nichols ignited a firestorm with his public comments this week that anyone entering the U.S. illegally should be shot.

Nichols said in media interviews that illegal immigrants should be ordered out of Kennewick, and "if they value their lives, they would leave."

Nichols said the death penalty would be appropriate for anyone who violated the U.S. borders.

Today he plans to hold a sign at key Kennewick intersections. "It will be to promote my agenda," he told the Herald on Thursday.

"A lot of the attention is on the illegal immigration agenda, but I am not a one-dimension candidate. I am also concerned about the city having too many high-dollar projects going on at the same time," said Nichols, who turned 56 this week.

One sign he plans to wave will say: "It is time to take back Kennewick. Time to take back America."

Another sign will list his top concerns, including illegal immigration and Kennewick being an English-only community.

The self-employed former Navy linguistics expert is on Tuesday's primary ballot, challenging Kennewick Mayor Steve Young and another candidate, William Miller.

The top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

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