Thread: Senator:Illegal Workers' Arrests Point To Bigger Problem(NC)

State Senator: Undocumented Workers' Arrests Point To Bigger Problem
RALEIGH, N.C. -- At least 15 undocumented workers were taken into custody Tuesday after an early-morning raid in west Raleigh that stemmed from a traffic accident along Interstate 40 on Monday.


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Video: I-40 Accident Leads To Seven Arrests On Illegal Immigration Charges
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed the raid on Tuesday at Carter-Finley Stadium where the workers had been hired by Miller & Long Construction to renovate the stadium, in a $19 million upgrade financed by the Wolfpack Club.

Seven of those taken into custody were arrested and charged with having a false ID and with returning to the United States after being deported. Authorities plan to deport them.

Authorities discovered the illegal hot spot while tracking three undocumented people who were involved in Monday's accident, which left a van on its side and tied up traffic for hours in the eastbound lanes.

Although the driver, who the North Carolina Highway Patrol said caused the accident, fled the scene, troopers questioned the other three passengers. They did not have documents or identification to prove their citizenship and were released. The driver has not been located.

State Rep. Russell Capps, R-Wake, said troopers should have not have allowed the undocumented men to leave the accident scene and said Monday's accident is an example of how state law enforcement should be more aggressive and involved in detaining and tracking illegal immigrants.

"I am amazed that law enforcement's position is they cannot detain these people," Capps said.

His staff is researching state law on traffic stops, Capps said, and if the law does not allow for undocumented people to be detained, he said he would introduce a bill to make it a law.

SURVEY
A test program will allow Mecklenburg County sheriff deputies to detain and remove illegal aliens. What do you think about this idea?
I think it will help put a dent in the illegal immigrant situation in N.C.
I think the deputies should stick with matters pertaining to their town or county.
I would like to see how the test program works before making a decision.
No opinion

"(It) would allow law enforcement to detain people that cannot be documented until we can find out where they're from and what they're about," Capps said. "We never know whether there's a terrorist involved; we don't know where that person comes from or what he's doing. If a person is undocumented, we need to find out before he's released."

A spokesman for the Highway Patrol said troopers did the right thing by taking names and releasing the undocumented workers from the wreck scene.

"Law enforcement officers have to be careful not to identify any person by their ethnicity (or) to point a finger at a wreck scene and say, 'They're illegal. We don't do that, that's profiling," said Lt. Everett Clendenin.

"It's nice to sit back at home and say, 'They should've done this,' 'They should've done that,' but the bottom line is we have processes to follow and people have rights," Clendenin added.

Where the line is between personal rights and Homeland Security is currently part of a nationwide debate on illegal immigration. State Sen. Hugh Webster, R-District 24, said Tuesday's arrests point to a larger problem.

"With this acceptance of illegal conduct, conduct comes worse and worse things," Webster said.

The North Carolina Department of Labor says immigration issues are not in its jurisdiction. It is not state law, but federal law, that prohibits employers from knowingly employing illegal workers, labor officials say.

The federal government says it simply cannot be at every job site across the state, which means federal regulations are not often enforces. The federal government relies on employers to check for proper identification, which officials say can easily be falsified.

"Things have to change in Washington," Gov. Mike Easley has said. "That's where the laws are written."

But as state's wait for legislation and enforcement to be implemented, the immigration problem continues.

"(You can) A: ignore it; B: you can try to deport 11 and 30 million people; or C: find some way for people to work toward citizenship," Easley has said.

Mecklenburg County is the first municipality in the nation to test an expanded crackdown on illegal immigration. Homeland Security has allowed some deputies to start the deportation process for illegal immigrants. They have access to the U.S. immigration database and can quickly find out if a person is wanted by federal custom officials.

One key benefit of the program is that it allows deputies to detain people on immigration violations until the issue can be resolved. The program may be expanded.
http://www.wral.com/news/9260341/detail.html

Originally Posted by Charlesoakisland

State Senator: Undocumented Workers' Arrests Point To Bigger Problem
RALEIGH, N.C. -- At least 15 undocumented workers were taken into custody Tuesday after an early-morning raid in west Raleigh that stemmed from a traffic accident along Interstate 40 on Monday.


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Video: I-40 Accident Leads To Seven Arrests On Illegal Immigration Charges
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"Law enforcement officers have to be careful not to identify any person by their ethnicity (or) to point a finger at a wreck scene and say, 'They're illegal. We don't do that, that's profiling," said Lt. Everett Clendenin.

Yeah, politically correct cowards like Lt. Everett Clendenin are part of the reason that we have such a problem.
If they are Mexican, there is a good chance that they are illegal, you stupid coward.

They reported on PTF this morning that between 30 to 50 workers took off running when law enforcement arrived.

Then 19 they caught must not have been good runners.

Why are they deporting only 7 when they had 19? The other 12 had to be using fake or stolen SS# didn't they? Isn't this a felong?

I don't know how to say this delicately so I hope I don't offend anyone.

If not for this accident, this raid would not have occurred and this St. Senator would not have had a venue in which to speak concerning the ILLEGAL problem.

Great for the Senator and the people of his state! One American identified

You got that right 2nd, that senator took total opportunity of the press on this one. They are not enforcing any of our immigration laws and any press that even remotely looks like they are is BS. Too little too late

Hey! Wake State Rep. Russell Capps up!! No new laws are needed . The police are full of BS. Send him this article from the Heritage Foundation. I quote the pertinent part here:

Lesson Learned

In the wake of the attacks, the Department of Justice announced the conclusion of a new Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion: state and local police officers do have the legal authority to arrest any deportable illegal alien. This announcement did not create any new authority—the police had possessed it all along. Rather, the announcement reminded local law enforcement agencies of the crucial role that they could, and should, play in the war against terrorism by making immigration arrests.

The OLC opinion affirmed the conclusion of numerous U.S. Courts of Appeals that states have the inherent authority to assist the federal government by making immigration arrests. Moreover, Congress has never acted to displace, or “preempt,” this inherent authority. As the Tenth Circuit concluded in United States v. Santana-Garcia (2001), federal law “evinces a clear invitation from Congress for state and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing federal immigration laws.”

Here's the link
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/wm1092.cfm