Dole pushing for immigration enforcement 7:57 AM

07:57 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 21, 2007
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/sto ... 78ccb.html
By MARIO ROLDAN / WCNC
E-mail Mario: mroldan@WCNC.com

NEWTON, N.C. -- Senator Elizabeth Dole wants more local law enforcement officers to help enforce immigration laws.
Tuesday in Catawba County, Dole kicks off more than a week of meetings with area sheriffs. The US senator from North Carolina will push voluntary training that helps deport undocumented criminals.
"What we are doing is identifying people in our community who are in this country illegally, but they are also here in our community committing crimes on top of that," said Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph.
Mecklenburg County already participates in the 287(g) federal program, which gives local law enforcement officials access to a federal database to help them determine if arrestees are in the country illegally. Since 2006, the sheriff’s office has processed about 2,500 immigrants for deportation proceedings.
"One of the very first things that comes to my mind is that the government and country is so divided that we have to be careful about what the future will bring," said local activist Maudia Melendez.
Melendez lobbied Dole in July to pass the failed immigration reform bill. Melendez worries that sheriff's deputies enforcing immigration laws only creates distrust among possible victims of crime.
Dole’s visit comes at the heels of a proposal to build an immigrations detention center in Mecklenburg County