NC residents wait for Supreme Court to decide on immigration law

By Torie Wells


WSOCTV



CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to wrap up its session next week. Before that, it will likely release its decision on parts of Arizona's immigration law and whether it clashes with federal law.


Some people in North Carolina are intently watching what happens because the ruling will impact them.


"I came here when I was 15," said Juan Ramos, from Charlotte.


Now, Ramos has graduated high school and is looking toward college. He says he has a different life than he would have had in El Salvador.


"Even some of my friends who were in school with me, now they are now part of gangs, and I didn't want my future to look like that," he said.


Ramos and his family are not in the U.S. legally.


While he might be covered by the president's new immigration policy, some of his relatives are not.


They, and the Latin American Coalition, will be watching the Supreme Court’s decision on Arizona's immigration law, hoping it is not upheld.


"The concern is that (the ruling) would somehow signal a green light to legislators that we can now go down an unfortunate and ill-advised path of creating anti-immigrant, enforcement-only policies," said Jess George, executive director for the Latin American Coalition.

Rep. Harry Warren, the co-chairman of the North Carolina General Assembly House Select Committee on the State's Role in Immigration Policy, is waiting on the Supreme Court's decision before deciding what to do in North Carolina.


"What are the best practices we can use from the other states without taking North Carolina into the court system," Warren said.


He said the policy cannot hurt the economy either.


Warren said ideally the federal government would handle immigration. But until then, he said, states have a duty to act.


In North Carolina, it will be about finding a balance.


"I don't see us opting for amnesty, and I don't think we're going to be able to round everyone up send them back wherever they came from. Those aren't realistic expectations," he said.

With all the uncertainty, Ramos said he's just moving forward.

"I have to live life," he said.


No matter what that decision is next week, the Latin American Coalition said it will meet at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse to discuss how it will take action as North Carolina moves forward with its immigration policy.


A spokesman for Americans for Legal Immigration PAC said it believes that Arizona is just enforcing federal law. If the Supreme Court allows Arizona to move forward, the group will try to push for a similar policy in North Carolina.


The decision will also affect South Carolina, which has a law similar to Arizona.

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