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Observer forum: Letters to editor
Give states authority to curb illegal immigration

The writer is district attorney in Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties.

I am constantly frustrated by the flow of illegal immigrants who come through our courts. The authority to enforce immigration laws, however, belongs exclusively to the federal government.

A simple and effective starting point for enforcing our laws would be for the federal government to allow North Carolina to detain illegal immigrants who are in our criminal court system and hold them at the expense of the federal government until they can be deported.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg already has a program that allows a select number of deputies to detain illegals. The more effective approach is to allow all 50 states that authority. It is time that the federal government heed the old adage, "Lead, follow or get out of the way."

Jay Gaither
Hickory