Immigrant activists want city of Charlotte to pay legal costs of those fighting depor
Immigrant activists want city of Charlotte to pay legal costs of those fighting deportation
FEBRUARY 27, 2017 8:14 AM
Scott Olson
Immigrant activists are planning to challenge the Charlotte City Council with a list of demands at a public forum Monday night, including a demand that the city distribute funds for legal services needed by immigrants fighting deportation proceedings.
The group Comunidad Colectiva says their intent is to fill all 200 seats at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center so they can convince Mayor Jennifer Roberts and the Charlotte City Council to take immediate steps to protect the undocumented immigrant community.
A Facebook post says the effort is being backed by two other groups, the Southeast Asian Coalition and Familias Unidas.
Supporters of the plan will gather at Marshall Park at 5 p.m., then walk the block to City Council meeting, something that could cause traffic issues at the evening rush hour.
Activist Rosalba Tlalolini told the newspaper Que Pasa Mi Gente that the group Comunidad Colectiva believes the council is misinformed about the frequency of arrests being made in the city by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“I do not know what sources consult the councilmen, but they are wrong,” she told the newspaper. “President Trump himself said that with the raids he was fulfilling his campaign promise.”
A Facebook post of demands says the group wants city leaders to fight state and federal efforts to more quickly deport undocumented immigrants. It also wants Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police to use discretion when dealing with undocumented immigrants, including refusing to tell federal officials when an undocumented immigrant is arrested. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police currently have a policy of not enforcing federal immigration laws.
Comunidad Colectiva also wants a “distribution of funds to provide legal services for immigrants in deportation proceedings.”
It was not made clear where those funds would come from.
The citizens forum starts at 6 p.m.
Experts estimate 54,000 people in Mecklenburg County are living illegally in the country. President Donald Trump has vowed to adhere more closely to the nation’s immigration laws, which were only partially enforced by the Obama administration.
Since Trump’s election, social media has exploded in Charlotte with reports of ICE raids of businesses, roadblock arrests and even arrests at Charlotte Mecklenburg schools. One rumor drew national attention: An accusation that ICE was arresting undocumented immigrants as they walked out of the Center of Hope homeless shelter in the morning.
It was completely false, says the shelter.
ICE has a standing policy against making arrests at so called “sensitive sites,” including schools, hospitals and churches. It has also denied conducting raids or roadblocks in Charlotte. The CMPD has also denied ICE roadblocks were conducted with the aid of city police.
The president of the N.C. Democratic Party’s Hispanic Caucus blasted Charlotte City Council in a letter Friday, saying council members’ “silence on recent ICE raids has been both deafening and painful.”
Manuel Betancur said the council has been silent on the issue, except for what he called “pitiful parroting of (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) talking points designed to placate, marginalize and criminalize.”
“Then, becoming aware of our existence, you spout the tired line, ‘Charlotte welcomes everyone.’ Seriously? That is all you have to say?” Betancur wrote.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/new...135195249.html
Immigration protesters shout down City Council with chants of ‘No more ICE!’
FEBRUARY 27, 2017 6:23 PM
BY BRUCE HENDERSON
AND STEVE HARRISON
Angry and scared over the Trump administration’s push to deport undocumented immigrants, about 200 protesters shouted down Charlotte City Council at its Monday night meeting with chants of “No more ICE!” and “Do something!”
The protest started at uptown’s Marshall Park. Activists then marched through uptown and filled the council chambers, where they demanded the city’s elected officials “stand up” to the Trump administration. Some cursed at city officials.
One person was escorted from the building by police. Another asked council members, “What would you do in the Holocaust?”
The rage was similar to what was seen after the September shooting of Keith Scott. Council members left the dais in an attempt to quiet the crowd. They returned a few minutes later and continued the regular portion of their meeting, shouting at each other to be heard as they took votes on items such as a transportation plan.
Council members decided to allow more people to speak, but they had adjourned the meeting. So officials moved into the lobby of the Government Center, where they met in small groups with immigrants and activists.
“My family is undocumented, and I was undocumented for a while,” said Daisy Bejarano, who came to the U.S. from Colombia. “(As a student teacher) I work with students who feel like they could come home and lose their parents.”
Earlier Monday, the group marched behind a white banner: “ICE Out of Charlotte / Mayor Roberts Step Up.” Marchers stayed on the sidewalk beside Third Street and appeared to move without incident as they chanted “No more ICE!”
The immigrant-rights group Comunidad Colectiva, which organized the march, planned to ask city officials to:
▪ Fight a North Carolina statute, known as House Bill 318, that prohibits local governments from restricting law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration officials, and the federal 287(g) program in which local police collaborate with immigration agencies.
▪ Require Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police to “use discretion” in dealing with undocumented immigrants.
▪ Provide money for legal services for immigrants facing deportation.
“We’re trying to show City Council that (immigrant arrests) is an ongoing issue going on throughout the community and we need a stronger presence from City Council,” said Mayra Arteaga of Comunidad Colectiva. “This is going down Central Avenue, on Eastway; somebody got picked up today at 3 o’clock. This is really happening in Charlotte, a city made by immigrants.”
Two years ago, City Council approved a civil rights resolution that stated Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police would not inquire about people’s immigration status. That led some people to say Charlotte was a “sanctuary city.”
In response, state legislators passed a law that prohibited cities from adopting ordinances that would limit law enforcement’s ability to work with the federal government in matters related to immigration. The city changed its policies in response to the state law.
“We hear you, we see you,” Mayor Jennifer Roberts told the group. “We see your fear. We know that federal directives have brought fear to our community. I encourage you to raise your voices to federal officials.”
In the lobby of the Government Center, Roberts stood in the middle of a group of protesters, who asked her to “stand up” to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s office, which runs the 287(g) program. Roberts said she would “have conversations” with the Sheriff’s Office and was immediately booed by activists.
Roberts told them that the state has threatened to take millions of dollars of funding from the city if it opposes programs like 287(g).
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/new...135323919.html
