Thread: NC: Mexican couple gets birth cert. after Iredell Co. denies it.

McCall protest draws about 40

Register of Deeds grants birth certificate after initial refusal
By Donna Swicegood | Updated 24 hours ago



After Iredell County Register of Deeds Matt McCall signed off on a birth certificate he had previously refused to issue, the Rev. Sifredo Rivera said he was pleased for the family, but plans to continue monitoring McCall’s dealings with Latinos.





“I am satisfied with what happened today,” Rivera, the pastor of Iglesia de Dios Nueva Filadelfia church in Statesville, said after McCall signed a birth certificate for Sharon Esther Munoz-Lopez, newborn daughter of Rolando Acosta and his wife, Virginia Lopez Garcia.
The issuance of a birth certificate came Monday after a press conference organized by Rivera that drew about 40 protestors, some of whom held signs calling for McCall to be fired, in front of the Iredell County Hall of Justice Annex building.


Speaking through interpreter Vernize Granadero, Acosta and Garcia said they recently presented a passport and other identification to McCall for their daughter, but were refused a birth certificate for the child.


Rivera said this issue has been an ongoing one with McCall and the Register of Deeds office.


“He has denied many marriage licenses for the past three years,” said Rivera, who added that he frequently takes those seeking marriage licenses to other counties. He said McCall’s refusal to issue the marriage licenses or birth certificates is a violation of North Carolina law.


McCall, however, said the couple seeking the birth certificate didn’t originally present a validated passport or other proper identification and he is simply trying to adhere to the Department of Homeland Security guidelines and prevent identity theft.


McCall, in speaking about the refusal to grant the request recently, said it was strictly because of the lack of documentation, not any discrimination against the family or any other Latino.
Several of the protestors accompanied Acosta and Lopez Garcia to the Register of Deeds office to try again to get a birth certificate for their daughter.


When the couple presented the passport, McCall at first seemed ready to deny the request again, but when they showed McCall an official birth document from Iredell Memorial Hospital listing them as parents of Sharon Esther, he said that did meet the law and granted the certificate.


McCall said he has granted official documents to others who are not citizens because they did present the proper paperwork.

He also issued a birth certificate to another woman who did not have a validated passport, but presented documentation from the hospital.
McCall did refuse to issue birth certificates to two other women, telling them their passports were not validated. He told the two that if they presented paperwork from the hospitals, the certificates would be granted.


Onlooker Fred Linderman, who opposed the protest, said he was tired of illegal immigrants getting what he called handouts.


“Why don’t all of you get a job like other people do,” he shouted at the protestors.


Another opponent of the protestors was McCall’s father, James. He said the protestors are wrong in their condemnation of his son.
“Matt knows the situation,” he said.


James McCall said his son, who recently became a father himself, paid some $6,000 for expenses related to his son’s birth.


“They come here with that child and plead for charity. They’re getting nothing but charity,” he said.


James McCall said his son followed the law in originally refusing to issue the birth certificate.


“They don’t know my son. They don’t know Matt McCall,” he said.


Iredell County Commissioner Renee Griffith issued a statement, reiterating her opposition to illegal immigration, but voicing her opposition to McCall’s refusal to issue the documents.


“I am probably the least likely person to speak at an event like this because of my strong stance against illegal immigration,” she said in the statement. “I strongly oppose illegal immigration. I truly understand Mr. McCall’s frustrations. I have filmed two documentaries regarding the issue at the border. I see the effects of illegal immigration every day as a commissioner.”


However, she said, illegal immigration wasn’t the issue in this instance.
“The issue that brought us to this point today is not illegal immigration but rather the conduct of the Register of Deeds, Mr. McCall. When Pastor Rivera, a U.S. citizen, contacted me, I attempted to reach out to Mr. McCall to avoid this situation. Unfortunately, Mr. McCall was not interested in any assistance,” she said.


Griffith added that McCall’s actions put the county at risk of a lawsuit and that the Acosta’s child is as much a U.S. citizen as McCall’s newborn son.


“Mr. McCall may not agree with the 14th amendment but it is the law,” she said.


Rivera said he hopes this action Monday will be one that will bring about a resolution.


“We will be looking at this very close, and not just me,” he said.

http://www.statesville.com/news/mcca....html?mode=jqm

Iredell County Commission should crack down on illegal immigration and run these illegals out of the area.

W