Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 06:20 PM

Special Immigration Report Garners Heated Responses


JOHNSTON COUNTY, N.C. -- The NBC17 special report on undocumented immigrants who commit crimes has generated a lot of response from viewers.

Tuesday night at 7 p.m. NBC17 brought you both sides of the debate.

One community activist said immigrants are not being treated fairly. But Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell, who says he sees repeat offenders in this group, had this to say.

"If they commit crimes in Johnston County I'm ready to load the truck, drive the truck back to Mexico and put them back from whence they came," Bizzell said.


See the entire interview

Here are some examples of what our viewers wrote on NBC17.com:

One says... "It is without hesitation that I may call him (Sheriff Bizzell) an ignorant pig."

While some people were offended, some defended the sheriff.

One viewer wrote... "I believe all illegal aliens should be returned to their homeland. And, they can pay the bill for their own transportation."

NBC17 followed up on the story Wednesday and talked again with Bizzell.

Judging by the comments we're getting, immigration is a hot button issue.

Now, when authorities say taxpayers are paying to jail suspected illegal immigrants for committing various crimes, the emotions run high on all sides.

Ted McKinney wrote to us on NBC17.com to tell us his story about how an undocumented driver almost killed him and his wife just two weeks ago in an auto accident.

Smithfield is the county seat of Johnston County. Sheriff Bizzell says on any given day around 20 percent of inmates in his jail are in this country without proper documentation.

We showed the sheriff the stack of e-mails responding to his pointed comments about loading up a truck and sending back illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Bizzell said he stands by his statements.

"The key word here is illegal," Bizzell said. "It's not about racism or anything like that. It's about safe streets and neighborhoods."

Latino workers in Smithfield said they feel that they are treated differently and said it is unfair.
Virginia Vazquez of Juanita's Bakery said most people just want to make a living and help the community grow.
"We come here to make a business, grow this little town, and I think we have the rights, too," she said.

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/ne ... -0013.html