http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/n ... 206758.htm

Posted on Sun, Dec. 10, 2006



Talk sought on immigrants
County officials, told to cut off services for illegal immigrants, want to make their challenges known
JEFFERSON GEORGE
jgeorge@charlotteobserver.com

Gaston County officials who were told last month to cut funding for services used by illegal immigrants have asked to meet directly with the commissioner who proposed the resolution.

In that meeting -- likely to be held in January -- county department directors hope to discuss with John Torbett the challenges in trying to prevent illegal immigrants from benefiting from government programs in Gaston County, County Manager Jan Winters said.

"It seems like for every change you make, it has another effect," Winters said. "The more we started spinning off different scenarios of what could happen, it just gave rise to more questions."

Commissioners on Nov. 9 approved a resolution directing county officials to stop funding programs and services for illegal immigrants. It's the most aggressive action in the Charlotte region against people living in the United States illegally.

Torbett said he proposed the resolution to reduce the drain on public services paid for with taxpayer money. The resolution states that illegal immigration contributes to overcrowded schools, highway deaths and increased crime.

After the vote, Winters told department heads to develop an estimate of what each department spends on illegal immigrants and possible ways to reduce those costs.

The goal was to assemble some numbers that Winters could share with commissioners at a future meeting. But in discussions with department directors, Winters said, he found that putting a dollar amount on potential savings was difficult.

One reason, he said, is that some programs administered by county departments must be available to anyone by state or federal law. In other cases -- namely public safety -- screening for illegal immigrants would go against an agency's mission to protect victims of crimes or accidents, Winters said.

"If people are trained to save lives," he said, "then that's what they're going to do.

"This is not a neat issue," Winters added. "It just starts breaking down pretty early in the process when you try to put a number on this."

Because of the holidays, department heads will meet with Torbett sometime in January, Winters said. Torbett confirmed the meeting plans Thursday.

As for initial feedback from department heads on difficulty in cutting costs, Torbett said it's natural for directors to be concerned about trimming budgets. He said earlier that he wants to help them identify areas where they are exceeding federal and state-mandated guidelines.

Regarding the potential cost associated with extra screening for illegal immigrants, Torbett said any short-term expense ultimately would result in long-term savings.

"I would see it as being temporary," he said. "Once the issue is resolved, the cost would be gone."

Gaston County Resolution

On Nov. 9, Gaston County commissioners approved a resolution directing county officials to study how to:

• Stop funding the portion of local services that go to illegal immigrants.

• Stop nonmandated or federally and state-funded programs that serve illegal immigrants.

• Stop contracting with companies that employ illegal immigrants.

• Update minimum housing requirements to limit the number of people who can live in rental homes.

The resolution also directs the Gaston County authorities to:

• Check the status of undocumented immigrants upon arrest.

• Check immigration status during all infractions such as a traffic stop.