Thread: Immigration request at N. Carolina library raises concerns

Immigration request at N. Carolina library raises concerns
By Kristin Collins | Raleigh News & Observer

Alamance County has been identifying and deporting illegal immigrants from its jails for more than a year, but now a librarian's arrest has some worried that county officials may be using another tool -- public health department medical records.

The concerns stem from a State Bureau of Investigation probe of the county health department. Some county officials, who called in the agency, think department employees were helping illegal immigrants work under false names.

The sheriff has suggested that the librarian's arrest was related to her care at the health department but has not said whether medical information was used to identify her. The woman's arrest and the circumstances surrounding it have become so contentious that some residents are organizing against the county's efforts to drive out illegal immigrants.

The librarian, Marxavi Angel Martinez, 23, is a former cheerleader and honor student who grew up in the county, friends say. Few who knew her had any idea that her parents brought her from Mexico illegally as a toddler.

Martinez, who was arrested in the library, is charged with four federal felonies, all related to what authorities say was her use of a dead person's Social Security number. If found guilty, she would face several years in prison before being deported.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/45916.html

Can a citizen of North Carolina report an illegal criminal alien, anymore?

CRY US A NEW RIVER, PLEASE

Martinez, who was arrested in the library, is charged with four federal felonies, all related to what authorities say was her use of a dead person's Social Security number. If found guilty, she would face several years in prison before being deported.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the parents set up the woman with the stolen SSN when she was very little. Still.. that's no excuse. It is a felony and she is illegal. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

vmonkey56: I think you were asking rhetorically, but as a reminder, if a person KNOWS for CERTAIN of someone's status being illegal - especially if you know they are doing criminal acts - by all means, report them to ICE.

Deport her and her parents and never look back.

More on the story posted by "FedUpinFarmersBranch"

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/immigr ... 53-p2.html

Immigration arrest raises concerns

Marxavi Angel Martinez, shown with her toddler son, faces prison and deportation.
Photo Courtesy of Marilyn Tyler


At the least, Hoke said, Alamance officials are probably discouraging people from using health services. Hoke said federal and state regulations guarantee health services regardless of immigration status.
And he said that immunizations, prenatal care and treatment for contagious diseases are important to all.

"Even if they're not excluding folks, you can set a tone where you scare people off," Hoke said.

Alamance backlash

Alamance County commissioners recently passed a resolution that the health department offer only emergency services to illegal immigrants. The resolution is largely symbolic: State and federal laws override it.

County Commissioner Bill Lashley, who proposed the resolution and is a member of the health board, said he hopes to drive out illegal immigrants by denying them health care. He said he wants all patients to prove legal status, a measure Hoke said would be illegal.

"If they can't prove they're here legal," Lashley said, "ship 'em back to Mexico."

Lashley was among the county leaders who requested an investigation of the health department.

Keith Whited, a Burlington lawyer and health board chairman, said county employees should not help illegal immigrants use false identities. However, he said he has no concerns about the health department serving illegal immigrants.

"Getting care is not a crime," Whited said. "But they were assisting them to commit a fraud on their employers."

Since Martinez's arrest, immigration officials have begun deportation proceedings for Martinez's husband, her parents and her sister, said her lawyer, David Smith of Greensboro. Her son, who is nearly 2, is a U.S. citizen.

Smith said he didn't know why the family was targeted. Federal officials typically go after criminals or workers in large plants.

None of Martinez's family members has been accused of crimes unrelated to immigration, and many who know the family say they were law-abiding community members. Martinez's sister worked for a law firm.

"It's unusual to see situations go to this extreme," Smith said.

A group of supporters, including Tyler, the retired librarian, has been driving to Winston-Salem for Martinez's federal court appearances, watching silently as she is brought into court in shackles.

Jessica Henriquez-Fuentes, a friend of Martinez's and a lifelong Alamance resident, said many wonder whether the sheriff plans to target other immigrants.

"Do they randomly pick somebody with a Hispanic last name and just try to figure out what the deal is?" Henriquez-Fuentes said.

Jones said the sheriff will continue to report crimes when he gets tips.

Libidiot Alert!!! This bleeding heart has a blog where comments can be left. Leave one if you have a chance...

Medical privacy should extend to illegal immigrants
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Dave Ribar

The News & Observer has a story this morning about an illegal immigrant in nearby Alamance County who was arrested after using the county's public health clinic.

In what is becoming a favorite tactic of immigration enforcement, the woman was charged with four federal felonies related to her use of false documents. While law enforcement officials are fond of saying that they only pursue illegal immigrants who commit or are suspected of committing crimes, the documentation statutes mean that nearly all working immigrants fall into this category.

What is more alarming in this case, however, is that the information that was used to pursue the immigrant appears to have come from the health department itself. The health department is being investigated for providing notes and other documents for illegal immigrants that use the immigrants' assumed identities instead of their true identities. It appears that the arrested immigrant's name came up in that investigation.

While immigration extremists advocate a scorched earth policy of making every institution in the U.S. as inhospitable to illegal immigrants as possible, there are good reasons for maintaining confidentiality when receiving health services or reporting crimes. In the case of health clinics, the community has a vested interest in all residents getting treatment and in the health department being able to track diseases. The risks of highly communicable diseases like TB, meningitis, or severe flu spreading through a community are too high. In this particular case, the immigrant is the parent of a U.S. citizen, so there is an additional interest in that child being able to get treatment.

Sometimes officials need to look the other way for the greater good. The arrest in Alamance County appears to be especially short-sighted.

Dave Ribar is a Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he teaches several graduate classes and conducts research on issues and programs related to poverty. He has previously taught at The George Washington University and at Penn State University.
http://appliedrationality.blogspot.com: ... nd-to.html

Wait a minute, so even if she had received a degree from open of our Universities, she wouldn't have been eligible to work legally? Wow, big surprise. She could have used her Matricular Consular Card and been entered in a University in Mexico at a no cost. Instead, she continued with what her parents did and that is breaking the law.

Here we have another innocent Mexican who commits multiple felonies to get money. Pertty nervy to commit these crimes, con her friends into supporting her illegal acts then ask for compassion. Good grief, every one of these 25 million scofflaws has a teary-eyed story and the libs race to aid them -- and abet them. Regarding private medical records, if the name used is from a dead person, the records are fair game. If the records are for somebody else, identity theft is proven prima facie. Apologies for using the term "Mexican."

I don't see the controversy here, she was using a STOLEN ID and was caught. Are these idiots saying we should not report criminals if they are hispanic? That's stupid!

Just another La Raza Pity Piece. Don't fall for it America.

Deport!

And you know what? I'm getting a little sick and tired as in weary of reading La Raza Pity Pieces and Propaganda written by professors at the University of North Carolina. Perhaps they're overpaid, since they appear to have so much time on their hands to concoct this subversive anti-rule of law crap that hurts Americans such that they need some pay cuts or a new non-taxpayer funded pasture to graze in.

Get my drift?!