Thread: Commissioner 'highly upset' by recent actions by sheriff

Commissioner 'highly upset' by recent actions by sheriff

Comments 53 | Recommend 7
August 4, 2008 - 1:08PM
Robert Boyer / Times-News

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/sherif ... oners.html

On Monday, the Alamance County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of Gov. Mike Easley, presented veteran Nick Collins with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state's highest civilian honor.

The board also relinquished an abandoned right-of-way at the request of Carolina Christian Church and several residents of the unincorporated Carolina village.

Both moves sailed along. Collins received several rounds of applause for his decades of service to the county's Veteran's office. The right-of-way request passed - quick, quiet and unanimous.

Things got louder and less chummy in a hurry, though.

Public comments chiding the sheriff's office's investigation of two Hispanic women sparked a heated exchange between Sheriff Terry Johnson and Commissioner Chairman Larry Sharpe.
Sharpe took Johnson to task for his department's role in the recent arrests of two undocumented immigrants.
"I think our 287 (g) program has gotten out of control. I think the sheriff's office is targeting people for minor violations," Sharpe said. "When (the sheriff) stood before us earlier, he said he wouldn't do that. I'm highly upset with what's been going on."
Sharpe was referring to the arrests of Graham library worker Marxavi Angel Martinez and Maria Chavira Ventura.
Angel-Martinez, a 23-year-old who has lived in the U.S. since she was 3, faces federal identity-theft charges after the sheriff said he received a tip from a county employee that she was in the country illegally.
Ventura was arrested on alleged traffic violations while driving her three children and a friend from the mountains to Maryland around 2 a.m. on June 14.
The father of two of Ventura's children said he found them and their 14-year-old stepsister alone on the side of the road when he arrived eight hours later from Maryland to pick them up. The sheriff has insisted the deputy who arrested Ventura followed department policy and got permission from Ventura to leave her three children with the friend. Ventura and her 14-year-old daughter, who was translating for her mother during the stop, said the deputy did not ask for permission and Ventura didn't grant it.
Recent media attention on the arrests are giving the county a "huge black eye," Sharpe said.
An immigration-related investigation at the county Health Department and an inquiry into travel at the county social services department are "way out of bounds," Sharpe added. "I hate the light it's putting our county in."
Sheriff Johnson said Sharpe's comments that "I had told the commissioners one thing and did another" had "sort of slapped me in the face."
His department doesn't "profile anybody," Johnson said. Statistics from the state Department of Justice, he added, show that traffic stops of Hispanics are fewer in Alamance County than in similar-sized Tar Heel counties.
Johnson asked Sharpe what he is doing that is at odds with what he stated earlier about his plans for the 287 (g) federal program, which trains and deputizes local law enforcement as Bureau of Immigration and Customs agents.
"I think, in a way, I was called a liar in here, Commissioner Sharpe. And I don't appreciate that."
"I don't know if you are or not profiling, sheriff."
Johnson said people lied about the traffic stop involving Ventura. "It was a situation where ... some of the media wanted to jump on the sheriff's department."
Johnson promised to keep enforcing the law even handedly. "If you want Alamance County to go to a ‘good old boy' attitude where we do selective law enforcement, then you need to get another sheriff."

THE SPIRITED exchange between Johnson and Sharpe came after supporters of Angel-Martinez and Ventura spoke out against the way they think the sheriff uses 287 (g).
Elon associate professor Brian Nienhaus said he was part of a recent gathering of 50 or so who met to discuss immigration enforcement in the county, nearly all whom live in the county. "You may find there is less support for 287 (g) than you might suspect," said Nienhaus, who teaches business communication.
Opposition to the program "will endure over time," he added. "I suspect that, as the next months unfold, I will be coming back again and so will my associates."
Marilyn Tyler of Burlington focused on the economic and familial impact of immigration enforcement.
Tyler, a former employee of May Memorial Library in Burlington, asked commissioners to investigate Marxavi-Angel's arrest and others under 287 (g).
"So why did the powers that be in our county decide to spend time and resources to pursue one little Mexican-born woman who grew up here, went to school here, (and) got a part-time job at the library while she studied?" Tyler said. "Who turned Marxavi Angel in? Four different reporters got four different stories.
"You folks are in a position to find out the truth and determine why someone thought it was important enough to make an example of a young woman and demolish six lives in the process," Tyler continued. "We live in this country and we want to be proud of it and not ashamed. And we won't let this issue die."
Tyler then gave Sutton a copy of "Let Them In: The Case For Open Borders," a book by Jason L. Riley of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board.
Commissioners Bill Lashley and Tim Sutton renewed their support for Johnson and 287 (g).
The commissioners, along with board Vice-Chairman Dan Ingle, laid the blame on the federal government's refusal to deal effectively with immigration-related issues.
"Let me say that I support the 287 (g) because it only deals with the people who break the laws. This country is made up of laws, not of people and politicians," Lashley said. "I say, enforce the borders or change the laws."
Sutton said support for 287 (g) is still strong locally and nationally and cited instances of illegal immigrants committing major crimes after other law enforcement agencies let them go on minor charges.
"What we've got here is an emotional outpouring based on sympathy" for Angel-Martinez, he said. A factory of fast-food workers wouldn't have draw such sympathy or media attention, Sutton said.
"Do we have serious problems with immigration. Yes," Ingle said. "Where can they be fixed? Only one place. And that is with the federal government."
Commissioner Ann Vaughan said Angel-Martinez may be "a wonderful person," but authorities "can't pick and choose what laws we enforce and what laws we don't enforce."

Simple law : Legals stay, Illegals go home!

You folks are in a position to find out the truth and determine why someone thought it was important enough to make an example of a young woman and demolish six lives in the process



Wouldn't they just love to know who turned her in......so they could harass and threaten the person

She was turned in for committing a crime and I've got a feeling that if they do a little bit more digging they will find a whole string of crimes tied to this woman, including fraud.

I still want to know how this ties in with the investigation conducted at the health dept. which uncovered illegals using aliases to obtain free care. Any bets that she was one of them?

I think our 287 (g) program has gotten out of control. I think the sheriff's office is targeting people for minor violations," Sharpe said. "When (the sheriff) stood before us earlier, he said he wouldn't do that. I'm highly upset with what's been going on."
Sharpe was referring to the arrests of Graham library worker Marxavi Angel Martinez and Maria Chavira Ventura

What's disturbing here is that we have people in positions of leadership who think nothing wrong with an illegal invader who steals a county job as a librarian, using fraddulent or stolen identification, thereby depriving an American citizen of that opportunity.

This is the mindset and apathy which will ultimately destroy this country!

Originally Posted by azwreath

You folks are in a position to find out the truth and determine why someone thought it was important enough to make an example of a young woman and demolish six lives in the process



Wouldn't they just love to know who turned her in......so they could harass and threaten the person

She was turned in for committing a crime and I've got a feeling that if they do a little bit more digging they will find a whole string of crimes tied to this woman, including fraud.

I still want to know how this ties in with the investigation conducted at the health dept. which uncovered illegals using aliases to obtain free care. Any bets that she was one of them?

azwreath, I would bet my right arm she's one of them! IF I were a betting person....

Elon associate professor Brian Nienhaus said he was part of a recent gathering of 50 or so who met to discuss immigration enforcement in the county, nearly all whom live in the county. "You may find there is less support for 287 (g) than you might suspect," said Nienhaus, who teaches business communication.

Notice that those who "protest" often have to bussed in from other states? The majority of locals want enforcement.

Another thing, how can anyone be profiled while driving a car in the middle of the night? I mean, seriously! Can a cop see a persons race before stopping the car and walking up to the driver? I don't think so!

As for the mother/daughter combo, of course they're lying! I don't know of any cop who would leave 3 kids alone in a car in the middle of the night, ESPECIALLY an illegal aliens kids.

Ventura and her 14-year-old daughter, who was translating for her mother during the stop

Now wait, this woman has been here at least 14 years if her daughter was likely born here, and she needed her to translate for her, and does not know English yet? Then she wants to stay? No way, that's garbage. No assimilation by these people, it is ridiculous.

Almance County Sheriff's Department
Non-Emergency Phone:
(336) 570-6300

Contact: Sheriff Terry Johnson

Show the Shefiff some love and call him to express your support.

Originally Posted by zeezil

Almance County Sheriff's Department
Non-Emergency Phone:
(336) 570-6300

Contact: Sheriff Terry Johnson

You can leave a voice mail after hours at the Sheriff's office.