N.C. - Seven Arrested During Graham Immigration Rally
Posted on Thursday, April 09 @ 01:28:44 EDT
Topic: Illegal Immigration News in the US
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 April 8, 2009
Matt McKinney & Julia Bagg
digtriad.com
Graham, NC -- Seven people were arrested during demonstrations surrounding a controversial immigration enforcement program in Alamance County.
Nearly 100 protestors on both sides of the 287-G program shouted their message near each other and the Alamance County Jail.
Raleigh-based Americans for Legal Immigration organized one side of the rally. They joined with several other state groups to support Sheriff Terry Johnson's efforts to enforce immigration laws through the 287(g) program.
Topics: Alamance County, North Carolina, William Gheen, Americans for Legal Immigration, 287(g)
"He's enforcing the law and that's what he needs to continue to do," said supporter Anthony Johnson, who lives in Alamance County. "If they don't like it tough, they need to get a life."
Pilgrims for Peace and Justice insists 287(g) is racist and unjust. They marched right by supporters twice. But those were not the tensest moments.
The Pilgrims group staged a mock arrest of a member dressed as the state of liberty. Demonstrators dressed as ICE agents brought her to the county jail, but police kept them from going inside.
The demonstrators sat down in front of the jail and refused to leave when officers asked several times. That's when police arrested them.
Protest organizer Gail Phares says the arrests themselves send a strong message. "It's just a way to help people think about what's happening," said Phares.
The 287-G program authorizes designated officers to enforce immigration laws. The Department of Homeland Security arranges the agreements with specific law enforcement agencies. Training and supervision for the program is provided by sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
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North Carolina residents gather to support 287 (g)
Pro-immigration groups organize counter protest in response to recent allegations against sheriff
by Margeaux Corby, April 8, 2009
The Pendulum
Protesters gathered on 100 block of Maple Street this afternoon to show support for Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson and 287 (g).
Alamance County resident Chad Ward said he was satisfied with Chief Deputy Tim Britt's explanation of traffic stop data inconsistencies at Monday's county commissioners meeting.
Sammy Moser said that the most recent Burlington fatal car accident involving an alleged illegal alien is just another reason to support local enforcement of immigration laws.
Patricia Stevens, Burlington resident for the last 25 years, said that all races must "respect the proper channels of authority before coming to America."
North Carolina residents held up signs and waved American flags in support of 287 (g).
Alamance County residents and concerned North Carolinians gathered outside the Alamance County Sherriff's department in downtown Graham Wednesday afternoon in support of Sheriff Terry Johnson and the county's current immigration enforcement program, 287 (g).
"We feel like it helps protect our citizens, American citizens, and it shows support for law enforcement," said Judy Patterson, who lives in Rutherford County but drove to Graham to publicly support 287 (g). "It shows the need for law enforcement and enforcing immigration law, which we do not do."
The counter protest was organized by the Raleigh-based Pro Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Groups Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), N.C. Voice and N.C. Listen.
The group held signs and waved American flags on the 100 block of Maple St. Wednesday afternoon.
"I work with a lot of victim's family members that represent the thousands of Americans that are losing their lives each year through the criminal actions of illegal aliens," said William Gheen, president of ALIPAC. "What they tell me is that when they find out their loved ones were killed by an illegal alien and then they find out that there is practically no significant border security or immigration enforcement going on in our country, at this time, they are enraged and feel very betrayed."
Protesters were rallying in response to the most recent reports that Johnson underreported the number of Hispanic drivers stopped in the last four years at a February county commissioners meeting.
Johnson had presented the numbers to the county commissioners in order to demonstrate that the sheriff's office was not racially profiling or taking advantage of its power to enforce federal immigration laws under 287 (g).
Johnson had reported 494 Hispanic drivers were stopped between 2004 and 2008. But Elon political science professor Laura Roselle's independent research revealed the actual number of Hispanic drivers stopped in the same time period was 1,344.
Roselle said she conducted her research because she was frustrated with the unresponsiveness of the sheriff's office and concerned about thier lack of disclosure about the 287 (g) program.
"The power was arrogant," Roselle said. "Those in power were arrogant."
At Monday's county commissioners meeting, chief deputy Tim Britt addressed the allegations, saying the inconsistencies had been discovered back in March and a new system was already being implemented.
"We certainly don't have anything to hide, this was not by design or intentional," Britt said. "It was simply an error."
Chad Ward, an Alamance County citizen, said he was pleased with the sheriff department's address and proposal presented at Monday's meeting.
"I feel like Mr. Johnson and Mr. Britt explained the problems," Ward said. "They came forward about it and were honest about it and I'm pretty confident the problem is resolved at this point."
According to Gheen, Roselle and other faculty at Elon University critical of 287 (g) are not aware of illegal immigration realities.
"Over at Elon University, up in the ivory towers as we call them, are people that have spent their lives in institutions instead of out in the real world," Gheen said. "They have some rather fanciful ideas about not enforcing our immigration laws. There's been some real elitist stuff coming out of Elon."
Gheen reiterated that he did not believe all illegal aliens were criminals and killers but said 287 (g) did save lives and property, as well as reduce crime rates.
He referred to the 2005 Zogby International poll that found 81 percent of Americans favor local police enforcing immigration laws.
"I am the vox populi. I am the voice of the people," Gheen said. "In my view, the wisdom of 80 plus percent of Americans is superior to the radical views of some Elon employees."
Some protestors also referred to a fatal car accident that occurred last weekend as another reason for their support of 287 (g).
"Through the last four or five years, I have seen several news articles where this very same thing happened," said Sammy Moser, an Alamance County resident for 69 years. "Where innocent people lost their lives due to illegal Hispanics driving on our highways (and) causing accidents. It's just so tragic."
Lidia Monica Lopez, 41, was charged with the death of a 43-year-old man who was killed while riding his motorcycle in downtown Burlington last Sunday.
She was cited last summer for driving without an operator's license and is from Mexico.
Sheriff's department spokesman Randy Jones said Lopez was not arrested and processed through the 287 (g) program in the summer because the ticketing officer remembered she had some form of identification.
"When you put people in society that don't belong here and try to mingle them in and (they) don't have (the) right to be in our nation, it compounds the problem," said Alamance County Commissioner Tim Sutton in reference to the fatal incident. "The argument has finally come home."
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Protests at jail lead to arrests
April 8, 2009 - 7:29 PM
Keren Rivas / Times-News
Freedom Communications, Inc.
GRAHAM - Lady Liberty was arrested Wednesday afternoon outside the Alamance County jail, but it's not like she wasn't expecting it.
Sitting outside the detention center, the woman dressed in green holding a torch in her right hand, two marchers wearing mock immigration enforcement gear and four other people, refused to follow Graham police officers' requests to stop blocking the entrance.
It was an act of civil disobedience meant to grab attention. Based on the number of media outlets that flocked to Graham to see the Witness for Peace marchers demonstrate their opposition to the 287(g) program, it worked.
The purpose of the march, said Gail Phares, the event's director, was to make people aware of the negative effect the federal/local illegal immigration enforcement program is having in Alamance County.
"This is not the America that I know," she said. "We are a country of immigrants... The future of this country is Hispanic immigrants."
She said that instead of creating enforcement programs like 287(g) that allow for the persecution of immigrants, what this country needs is a change in trade policies. She said the North American Free Trade Agreement is the root of why people from Mexico and other Latin American countries are migrating to the U.S.
"People are coming because people are hungry," she said, adding that with the march they wanted to say "welcome to immigrants."
As marchers walked from the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter in Burlington to the Alamance County jail in Graham, they kept chanting: "We shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved."
WAITING FOR THE marchers in Graham were 50 to 70 287(g) supporters, including County Commissioner Tim Sutton. Members of several pro-border security and immigration enforcement groups, such as Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, N.C. Voice and N.C. Listen, were holding signs in support of the program and Sheriff Terry Johnson as the marchers passed by.
William Gheen, president of Raleigh-based ALIPAC, said they decided to hold the event to send a message that marching in the streets and making "unproven accusations" that those law enforcement agencies that deport illegal aliens who break the laws are mean and racist it is not something they were going to tolerate.
"When we heard the illegal aliens and their supporters were coming to town, we knew exactly what they planned to do: They plan to say some other defamatory and false things about our local police and sheriffs... So we wanted to get some support for the police and sheriff."
He said that by being there, they represented the 80-plus percent of Americans who, according to a 2005 poll, feel that local police should enforce immigration laws.
"The 287(g) program in Alamance County is a program that saves lives, saves property and protects our citizens from illegal aliens involved in broader criminal conduct," he said. "Sheriff Johnson is North Carolina's sheriff (Joe) Arpaio. He's been one of the loudest voices on this issue. He's stood with the public and he's stood with the side of the law."
He continued, "We want our police to enforce all laws, especially our immigration laws in the absence of Washington, D.C. doing what they are supposed to be doing."
MINUTES BEFORE being arrested for disorderly conduct, Lady Liberty, later identified as 44-year-old Audrey B. Schwankl of Pittsboro, walked through the Alamance County jail's parking lot as marchers shouted "Arrest her, arrest her! She is illegal!"
"What happened," she said as two marchers wearing mock immigration enforcement gear approached to handcuff her. "I thought we were here for the poor, for the tired... Your grandparents, they came to me too, and some of them did not come legally either. I, the mother of exile, was here for them and now for you and for the next wave."
She added, "Maybe there is no room for liberty anymore. Liberty has been arrested here in Alamance County."
Besides Schwankl, also arrested and charged with disorderly conduct were the following march participants: Francisco Javier Risso, 37, of Morganton; Patrick M. O'Neill, 53, of Raleigh; Deborah J. Biesack, 44, of Fuquay-Varina; Wendy K. Michener, 52, of Fayetteville; Graymon J. Ward, 24, of Knightdale; and Juan C. Montes Corrales, 44, of Valdese.
The Witness for Peace stop in Alamance County was one of several scheduled as part of the six-day pilgrimage that has been going on for 26 years and always takes place during Holy Week. Their next stop will be Thursday in Greensboro.
Johnson said that though he respected freedom of speech and what each group was saying during the march and demonstration, he did not respect the acts of the seven people who blocked the entrance of the jail.
"They promised us they would follow every order, directive from us," he said. He said that before the marchers arrived at Graham, he received from the media a copy of a list the group had prepared with the names of the people who wanted or were willing to be arrested.
"I felt like they lied to us. They said they were going to be orderly," he said. "They say they are a non-violent, follow-the-law organization," he said, adding that the Graham police had no other choice but to arrest those who were blocking the entrance after several requests to move.
He said the protesters' attitude said a lot about the group's leaders.
On the other hand, Johnson said he was touched by the people who came to the streets to show support and appreciation for him, his office and the 287(g) program.
"It made me feel good," he said." Certainly, being sheriff, I'd begin to worry if I was the only one who worried about criminal activity."
Johnson said he or his deputies do not go out looking for people to process through the program but rather that criminals identify themselves when they violate the law.
He said people who don't support the 287 (g) program "have made us out like a bunch of racists." He added, "We are not racists; we are trying to do the job that I was elected to do."
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