Thread: CMPD Officers May Start Checking Immigration Status Of Suspe

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/10536069/detail.html

CMPD Officers May Start Checking Immigration Status Of Suspects

POSTED: 4:15 pm EST December 14, 2006
UPDATED: 6:28 pm EST December 14, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Right now only Mecklenburg County sheriff's deputies trained by ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have the power to identify illegal immigrants after they've been booked into the county jail.

Soon, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers may have similar powers if recommendations from Mayor Pat McCrory's Immigration Study Commission are approved.

"We (local law enforcement) should clearly know who they (illegal immigrants) are," McCrory said on Thursday.

If passed by city council next year, police would be allowed to question the immigration status of people as they're being arrested in order to help speed up the deportation process.

Latin leaders fear giving police more power would deter illegal immigrants from reporting crimes for fear of deportation

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/ ... 244416.htm

Posted on Fri, Dec. 15, 2006

MAYOR: FINAL DRAFT DUE IN JANUARY
Report on immigration's impact to include dissent
Local enforcement, in-state tuition among panel's disagreements

FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
fordonez@charlotteobserver.com

The much-anticipated report from Mayor Pat McCrory's immigration task force is filled with data, but members failed to reach agreement on the most controversial recommendations.

"I have some dissents among several of these points, but at least we have the facts and options for the policymakers to vote on," McCrory told the Observer after the meeting. "Then the citizens can determine to agree or disagree."

The Mayor's Immigration Study Commission held its final meeting Thursday, finalizing details of a nearly 60-page report that offers more than 20 policy recommendations. The report, which is still in draft form, will be released officially next month, McCrory said.

It's the first comprehensive report of its kind on the impact of immigration on a local community, said the mayor. Some officials, such as members of the Mecklenburg County commissioners, have said they are awaiting the report's findings to help shape local policies.

An estimated 58,000 illegal immigrants reside in Mecklenburg County, according to the report. The 29-member group agreed they have an immediate and direct impact on hospitals, schools, public safety, and the area economy. But their opinions differed greatly on what needs to be done.

Members agreed on the need for an immigration court in Charlotte and increasing the size of the Mecklenburg County jail. They supported efforts to increase the number of bilingual professionals in health care. And they want a system in which government contracts are not awarded to companies that hire illegal immigrants.

Yet they were unable to agree on local enforcement of immigration laws; in-state tuition for illegal immigrants; and whether to support a national guest-worker program.

As a result, several recommendations include dissenting opinions.

The task force recommended, for example, that local law enforcement develop a policy that will determine the immigration status of arrestees, but it also included a more than 150-word dissent that expressed concerns that such a practice could lead to racial profiling.

The divergent views on immigration within the task force reflect those within Congress and the country. But Alan Gordon, chairman of the task force, said the strength of the report is in the statistics.

"The point was not convincing everyone to go in one direction," Gordon said, "but to bring them to the table and get them to talk about it."

Key Findings

• Nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants brought to Mecklenburg County jail have been placed in deportation proceedings.

• Five of the city's more than 100 known gangs recruit foreign nationals or illegal immigrants of Latino heritage.

• The state has 430,000 uninsured, illegal immigrants. In 2005, the state's Medicaid manager reported that N.C. illegal immigrants cost the state $52.8 million in Medicaid payments, up from $25.8 million in 2000.

• The report cites UNC Chapel Hill Kenan Institute estimates that Hispanics contribute $756 million in taxes while costing the state about $817 million annually for K-12 education, health care and corrections.

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Just ignore the last statistic. It was paid for by bankers. Seems the learned professors at KF Business School aren't able to distinguish illegal aliens form US citizens, resident aliens and people with work visas.