N.C. counties to further enforce immigration policies

N.C. counties to further enforce immigration policies
Online Exclusive
By: Elizabeth DeOrnellas, State & National EditorIssue date: 4/25/08 Section: State & NationalPrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1

North Carolina, the first state in the nation to craft a formal partnership with federal immigration authorities, is moving ahead in its efforts to combat illegal immigration.

The state has focused its efforts on identifying undocumented immigrants who have been arrested for other crimes.

The 287(g) program, already active in Mecklenburg, Alamance, Gaston and Cabarrus counties, allows local law enforcement officials to take on some responsibilities of immigration officers.

Officers trained in the program use federal databases to check the identity and residency status of non-U.S. citizens who have been arrested.

"We have no way of finding out if they're telling us their real name," said Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison in a March interview.

He estimated that 10 percent to 15 percent of the 35,000 people who are processed through the Wake County jail each year are foreign-born, saying 287(g) offers the only reliable way of identifying how many of those people are undocumented.

Wake, Henderson and Cumberland counties are in the process of entering into formal 287(g) arrangements.

Richard Rocha, spokesman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said other N.C. counties will participate in the Criminal Alien Program, in which federal immigration officials are stationed in local jails.

Some nearby counties have seen positive results from participation in 287(g).

Six months after Alamance County instituted its 287(g) program, officials reported that the number of people being processed through the county jail had decreased.

Yet Orange County politicians have been reluctant to jump on the 287(g) bandwagon.

At their April 9 debate, both incumbent N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, and her Democratic challenger, Orange County Commissioner Moses Carey, expressed skepticism with the program.

"What the rest of the country is doing is not what we should be doing in Orange County," Kinnaird said.

Carey said the county commissioners have worked with Orange County Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass to ensure that undocumented residents are not unnecessarily hauled to jail and submitted to identification checks.

Carey added that undocumented immigrants are vital to the local economy, saying he has not heard many complaints from Orange County residents about undocumented immigrants taking away jobs or otherwise threatening the local community.

"We need to adjust and deal with them in a positive manner," he said.

N.C. counties enforcing US IMMIGRATION POLICIES is what ALL US counties should be doing. IT IS OUR LAW, NOT WHATEVER SOME POLITICIAN does or doesn't accept - picking and choosing is cowardly at best.

I'm elated that the people in any county has the honor and integrity to stand up against the mamby-pamby politicians, local, state and federal!

Let's see how long it takes to clean house (Orange County Commissioners positions.) Hope it's REAL SOON AND REAL OBVIOUS for everyone across our wonderful nation to inspire ALL AMERICANS.  Rhonda

I agree with Orange county commissioner Carey.  We do need to deal with illegal aliens in a positive way.  And the only positive way to deal with them is deportation.  We do not need to adjust as he says.  We need to enforce our laws.  And the good citizens of Orange county need to vote out all the commissioners who feel otherwise.

Well stated, Mammaw! Rhonda (Isn't it wonderful to be so positive?) Rhonda

Of course this all makes sense.  Orange County is home to Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina.  It is the most liberal county in the entire state. 

Maybe ALIPAC will do a "send them there flier" like they did for New Haven, CT except this time the target could be Orange County, NC.  

They could house thousands of illegal aliens in the Dean Smith Center.....

SovereignMan