Gov. McCrory signs controversial immigration bill


LYNN HEY/News & Record
Gov. Pat McCrory hands Major A. Azelton, Randolph Co. Sheriff Department a pen after he signed into law HB 318, the so-called immigration bill, which prevents cities from accepting any identification not issued by a government agency at the Guilford County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Greensboro, N.C.


Posted: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 3:22 pm
By Kate Elizabeth Queram

GREENSBORO — A controversial bill that prohibits the use of community IDs created for undocumented immigrants, like those that had been used in Greensboro, is now law.

Gov. Pat McCrory signed House Bill 318 Wednesday afternoon at the Guilford County Sheriff's Office, surrounded by area law enforcement officials and local and state representatives.

“We are a nation of laws," McCrory said before signing the legislation. "No politician should choose which laws to obey and which laws not to obey, and this includes immigration law."

The Protect North Carolina Workers Act prohibits any city or county from having any policy, ordinance or procedure that would restrict the enforcement of federal immigration law.

It also prevents cities from accepting any identification not issued by a government agency.

Prior to signing the bill, McCrory noted that he enjoys coming back to Guilford County, where he attended high school. It's the place, he said, "where I got my values."

Greensboro officials had opposed the legislation previously. The City Council recently passed a resolution against it, calling the measure a strike at immigrants, the poor and the city itself.

Earlier this year, Greensboro became one of the first cities to accept IDs created by the nonprofit FaithAction for such things as opening accounts at the water department and getting a library card.

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan has said the cards and the city’s policy made it easier for immigrants who are not yet citizens to interact with the government.

The city stopped accepting the cards after HB 318 passed the General Assembly, but Sheriff BJ Barnes said Wednesday that the law would not keep people from using the IDs.

"The law does not preclude them from carrying it," he said. "But the IDs have no value. There's no data to back them up — no fingerprints, no background checks.

People have tried to make this an emotional issue, but it's a legal one."

Proponents of immigrants' rights and immigration reform have decried the legislation since it was introduced, saying that it unfairly targets immigrants and people living in poverty.

Aside from the identification provision, the new law also prohibits the state Department of Health and Human Services from extending food stamp benefits to unemployed, childless adults.

There were no protesters at the sheriff's office as McCrory signed the bill, but a group convened at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum shortly after to decry the governor's actions.

"One of the most effective ways for one group to dehumanize another is to take away access to basic needs," said David Fraccaro, executive director of FaithAction. "Make no mistake, this is the goal of HB 318."

Fraccaro delivered his remarks in front of dozens of protesters, silent but holding signs. They read "Stop separating families," "No human being is illegal," "Welcome the stranger" and other slogans.

Now that the bill is law, protesters urged the crowd to change the system using the power left at their disposal — voting.

"Politicians can be unseated and laws can be undone," said Anna Fesmire, co-president of The League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad. "We condemn this bill, both for its mean-spirited origins and the hypocrisy the governor signing this bill represents."

A Greensboro police captain said the ID program will continue in the private sector.

"I still think it is a great program to bring pride to people who are living in our community," Capt. Mike Richey said Wednesday. "Anything that makes someone feel closer to the community is a good thing as a whole."

http://www.greensboro.com/news/mccro...2a0273f1d.html