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Nov 2, 2006 4:00 pm US/Central

Irving Mayor Catching Flak Over Immigration Letter

Bud Gillett
Reporting

(CBS 11 News) IRVING The mayor of Irving is catching flak over a letter he signed about immigration. Critics feel Herbert Gears committing the city to be passive about illegal immigrants, but the mayor insists it's not so.

Sophia Hernandez is a U.S. citizen who says there's no easy side to the illegal immigration debate.

Hernandez says it’s especially difficult since some of those people are her friends. “And I see what they go through and my heart goes out to them, but there's, like I said, there's another side of the coin.”

Hernandez’ ex-boyfriend is an example of the ‘flip side’ of that coin. She says he is an illegal immigrant who left her and their son.

“Since he was working with illegal documents - it's difficult to find him,” Hernandez said.

Mayor Gears has thrust himself into the debate by signing a letter written by, and for, the political action group ‘ACRON’. In it, he commits to oppose anti-immigrant legislation, and further commits that he, "will not support Irving police being required to work with the federal government toward the goal of deporting illegal immigrants."

Gears says the action is important in a city with a heavy Hispanic population.

“The talk that prevails too often hurts and creates fear in immigrants, legal immigrants, that have children and their families living in the City of Irving,” Gears says. “And you create an environment where there's distrust so people no longer want to talk to the police officers.”

Mayor Gears is drawing a line between legal and illegal immigrants, but ACORN says it is making no such differentiation; it doesn't care whether people in Irving are documented or undocumented.

Critics call Gears soft on illegal immigration, but he says the city doesn't need to be in a federal issue.

Video at above link

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