http://www.hickoryrecord.com

Immigrant impact
Illegal immigration focus of forum on growing problem


By ANDREW MACKIE
Record Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 7, 2005

HICKORY - The federal government is failing miserably to curb the influx of illegal immigration.

That was the consensus from a panel of speakers Tuesday night during a forum on the issue at Catawba Valley Community College.

State lawmakers and law enforcement officers are restricted in what they can do to address the problem, they said.

“The federal government is dumping these people into our communities,� said District Attorney Jay Gaither.

Those communities, panel members said, are struggling with how to deal with the impact.

The town-hall style event touched on many areas of the complex issue.

The issue isn’t about race or religion, they agreed. The country was built on immigrants, they stressed.

But illegal immigration is a different matter.

N.C. Sen. Robert Pittenger compared the current topic to the early middle-class backlash on affirmative action in the 1970s.

“Americans want to be fair, but they don’t want illegal immigration to be shoved down their throats. They want the law upheld,� he said.

Former N.C. Sen. Fern Shubert said North Carolina exacerbates the problem by providing valid driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and failing to enforce laws.

She also railed against mainstream newspapers, saying they won’t write about illegal immigration problems.

Dr. Ada Fisher stressed the threat of the issue on several areas - national security, jobs, criminality and language.

The criminal justice system will continue to deal with the issue, especially as ethnic gangs become more prevalent, she said.

The English language, she said, is being compromised. It should be officially adopted as the national language.

And she disputed the belief illegal immigrants take jobs that others wouldn’t want. If those jobs paid minimum wage, she said, there would be people to take them.

The number of illegal immigrants is roughly equal to the number of unemployed people in the U.S.

Several panelists also mentioned the cheap labor force illegal immigration provides and its political impact.

On a local level, Catawba County Sheriff’s Lt. Roy Brown stated the challenges associated with law enforcement. A person with a valid driver’s license is assumed to be a legal immigrant, he said.

“We have a system that is not allowing us to enforce the laws,� he said.

Communication presents the greatest challenge, Brown said. It’s important, he said, because the best source of catching illegal immigrants are legal immigrants in that same community.

Officers are encouraged to learn other languages, in part to understand when their lives are threatened.

Gaither focused on the federal government’s glaring failure to address the issue at the borders.

Sandra Johnson, who works for World Relief, mentioned human trafficking, an overlooked part of the issue.

Many illegal immigrants - an estimated 100,000 - come to the country. Many of them are forced into slavery and prostitution. North Carolina is the fourth-fastest growing state in the country in illegal human trafficking, she said.

Although attended by only about two dozen people, Catawba County Republican Party Chairman Cliff Isaac thought the event was productive. N.C. Rep. Mark Hilton and N.C. Sen. Austin Allran were among those in the audience along with Anne Fischer, a former Democratic opponent of U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry.

BY THE NUMBERS

• 11 million - Estimated number of illegal immigrants in the United States
• 1.19 million - Number of illegal immigrants arrested in 2005 as of September
• 932,000 - Number of illegal immigrants arrested in 2003
• 155,000 - Number of arrested illegal immigrants not from Mexico