N.C. - Immigration group: criticism over fed investigation unwarranted
By Chris Lavender / Times-News
Published: Friday, January 4, 2013 at 17:52 PM.
Members of Fairness Alamance responded Friday to what they call unfair criticism by some county commissioners over the group’s role in a federal investigation of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office.
Commissioner David Smith said in a Times-News article last month he believes that Fairness Alamance, a pro-immigration group, has falsely claimed that Sheriff Terry Johnson has unlawfully targeted Latinos. Commissioner Tim Sutton also said in December he believes the group doesn’t want Johnson or other law enforcement agencies to enforce any immigration laws and that attacks against Johnson are politically motivated.
Commissioner Linda Massey also said last month she believes that Fairness Alamance is a driving force behind the U.S. Department of Justice’s push to file a lawsuit against Johnson on Dec. 20. Massey believes that Fairness Alamance’s actions had tarnished the county’s image and called the DOJ’s lawsuit a ploy.
The DOJ filed suit against Johnson over what it says are discriminatory practices it has uncovered by the sheriff’s department. Johnson has denied the allegations.
Fairness Alamance member Ben Ansbacher said on Friday he believes the county commissioners’ criticism of his group has no merit and that Johnson has nothing to lose by submitting a plan for reform as sought earlier this year by the DOJ.
“My sense is they think we are attacking the sheriff,” Ansbacher said. “I am surprised by that. They are still saying we are after the sheriff.”
Fairness Alamance member Anne Cassebaum questioned why the county commissioners are supporting Johnson in a fight against the DOJ’s request for reforms. Cassebaum also said she is surprised by the criticism levied against Fairness Alamance by the commissioners.
Cassebaum said she feels she was labeled a traitor by the commissioners, based on their recent comments, for having supported the DOJ’s efforts.
She said the DOJ’s investigation and lawsuit against Johnson are positive developments because they could pave the way for changes to ensure that all Alamance County residents are treated fairly by law enforcement. Cassebaum said there is no reason not to trust the DOJ in the case against Johnson.
Cassebaum said that Fairness Alamance’s support of the DOJ lawsuit is not an attack against Johnson.
“It’s not about a person,” Cassebaum said. “It’s about the treatment of all people in Alamance County.”
Members of the group on Friday expressed surprise that some in the county have pointed to their group as the cause of the Justice Department investigation.
“Fairness Alamance has been portrayed as this large group of organized people that just snap their fingers and the DOJ says yes we will do what you want,” Blanca Nienhaus, another member, said. “Nothing could be farther from the truth. (Fairness Alamance is) just people like us. We are just regular people trying to do the best we think we can.”
AFTER THE SHERIFF’S office implemented 287(g), a federal/local partnership program designed to help identify and deport illegal immigrants, in 2007, Fairness Alamance approached the county commissioners with reports of discrimination against Latinos.
“The fact is we were never listened to,” Blanca Nienhaus said.
Member Brian Nienhaus said Alamance County law enforcement shouldn’t kick out undocumented immigrants because they help provide for the local economy.
“Any society that doesn’t attack its immigrants will be better off economically,” Brian Nienhaus said. “I live in this county and I want what is best for this county.”
The 287(g) program trained and authorized local law enforcement and jailers as federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for the purpose of deporting people who are in the country illegally. The program was terminated by the Department of Homeland Security last September after the DOJ released its findings of alleged abuse against Johnson.
After failing to get action from the commissioners, Fairness Alamance sent a letter to the DOJ highlighting reports of alleged discrimination against Latinos by the sheriff’s office. The letter was sent before the launch of the DOJ’s investigation in 2010.
Blanca Nienhaus said the DOJ contacted her after the letter was sent asking her if federal officials could come and conduct preliminary interviews with Latino families mentioned in the letter. Three families were interviewed by the DOJ during the initial phase.
“They were just looking if it was true,” she said.
Based on the interviews, Blanca Nienhaus said the DOJ then sent an exploratory committee to the county to further investigate charges of discrimination. Fairness Alamance has continued to serve as a liaison between the public and the DOJ, encouraging people who believe they have been discriminated against to come forward.
Ansbacher said the DOJ will present its evidence in court and isn’t required to try its case before the county commissioners. He dismissed the positive reviews issued by ICE to the sheriff’s office over its operation of the 287(g) program. The annual reviews repeatedly stated that the 287(g) program in Alamance County was a model program that should be copied by other law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Ansbacher said he believes that ICE’s annual reviews failed to focus on what was happening in the field and solely focused instead on the jail operations through 287(g). The annual ICE reviews said that there were no complaints filed against Johnson.
Ansbacher said he believes that there were no complaints filed directly against Johnson because those processed through 287(g) had nothing to gain by doing so. He said 11 people had submitted complaints with Fairness Alamance against Johnson over alleged abuses of the 287(g) program.
Fairness Alamance hasn’t been the only group that has played a role in the case. Ansbacher said the American Civil Liberties Union has attended meetings in Alamance County and has provided a report to the DOJ based on its research into allegations of discrimination.
Fairness Alamance has also worked with members of the N.C Dream Team to advocate on behalf of undocumented immigrants in the case, according to Ansbacher.
The DOJ complaint filed on Dec. 20 alleges that the sheriff’s office engages in a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing against Latinos in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
The DOJ filed a lawsuit in June 2011 to have access to interview sheriff’s office employees about the discrimination complaints. The DOJ asked the lawsuit to be dismissed in September, which the court agreed to do. The DOJ then submitted a report with findings of its two-year investigation and asked the sheriff’s office to provide a plan for structural reform by Sept. 30. Johnson has repeatedly denied charges that his department has unlawfully discriminated against Latinos and said that structural reforms are not necessary.
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