N.C. Wake Sheriff Harrison tells Latino forum he will renew ICE 287(g) partnership

[JohnDoe2]

MAY 13, 2016 8:05 PM

Wake Sheriff Harrison tells Latino forum he will renew ICE partnership

Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison told members of the Latino community that he was sympathetic to their concerns, but he will continue the county’s 287(g) program

The sheriff will recognize only government-sanctioned forms of identification, ruling out an alternative card called the “FaithAction ID”.

Community members told the sheriff that “racist” immigration laws divide families.



Sheriff Donnie Chris Seward cseward@newsobserver.com

BY THOMASI MCDONALD
tmcdonald@newsobserver.com

RALEIGH Alex Matehuala, a 13-year-old seventh-grader who wants to become a boxer and artist, stepped up to a microphone Wednesday night and explained to Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison why he should not renew a program that allows deputies to determine a person’s immigration status after they are arrested for a crime.

Alex, dressed in a button-down shirt and striped necktie, told the sheriff that young people his age worry daily about their parents not being at home when they return from school because they have been picked up by federal immigration officers who deport them.

“At school we are told about universal human rights: education, food, shelter, safety, the right to freedom and to be able to migrate,” he said. “Mr. Harrison, does that mean my teachers have been lying to me, or is it the government favors racist laws and programs?

Will you continue to renew a racist program that puts families at risk of being separated?”

Sixteen-year-old Esperanza Espinosa’s story was even more dispiriting.

“My father was deported,” Esperanza, a Wake Early College student and one of five children, told Harrison. “Can you imagine how a 12-, 6- and 4-year-old feel, knowing they will never see their father again? I have a 3-year-old brother. We told him our father was working faraway.”

Alex and Esperanza were among the nearly 100 children and adults who gathered at the Good Shepherd Church in downtown Raleigh for a community forum with Harrison. The largely Central American group wanted to talk with the sheriff about Wake County’s 287(g) program that allows the federal government to delegate immigration enforcement powers to local law agencies if an undocumented immigrant is arrested. The sheriff’s office entered into the partnership with ICE in 2007, and it is up for renewal in June, along with programs in Henderson, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg and Gaston counties.

PRIOR TO 287(G), PEOPLE LEFT THE JAIL AND WE KNEW THEY WEREN’T WHO THEY SAID THEY WERE. WHAT IF I ACCEPT A FORM OF IDENTIFICATION FROM A RAPIST AND LET THAT PERSON GO? THAT COMES BACK TO ME.

Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison

The group also talked to Harrison about a House bill, the “Highway Safety/Citizens Protection Act,” that offers a restricted driver’s permit for undocumented immigrants.

They asked the sheriff if he would be willing to recognize an alternate form of identification, the “FaithAction ID,” that’s sponsored by International House, a statewide nonprofit in Charlotte that advocates on behalf of immigrants. International House created the ID in 2013 in partnership with the Greensboro Police Department as an alternative to government issued forms of identification.

Harrison expressed empathy for the group’s concerns, but said he intends to continue the 287(g) program. Harrison also said his office would not recognize a form of identification not issued by state or federal authorities. He said 287(g) and government-sanctioned forms of identification enable his office to positively identify individuals in custody at the Wake County jail.

“The concern I have is with validity. How do I know it’s ‘John Doe?’” he asked the group.

“That’s my problem with the ID. Prior to 287(g), people left the jail and we knew they weren’t who they said they were. What if I accept a form of identification from a rapist and let that person go? That comes back to me.”

The forum took place one day after state senators a few blocks away voted in favor of a bill that may make the forum moot.

Lawmakers gave preliminary approval to Senate Bill 868, the “Local Government Immigration Compliance Act,” which would withhold state funds for public school construction and road maintenance in cities and towns that fail to comply with state laws related to immigration. The bill, now in the Senate judiciary committee, would forbid cities and towns from recognizing any form of identification not issued by the state or federal government, including the FaithAction ID.
“Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Asheboro and a couple of other cities all recognize the FaithAction ID,” said William P. Saenz, a spokesman with El Pueblo, a statewide Latino advocacy group based in Raleigh. “Durham has its own form of the ID through El Centro Hispano, but it’s essentially the same thing.”

The bill would also forbid North Carolina municipalities from being “sanctuary cities” for undocumented immigrants. Sanctuary cities refers to those that have opted to not prosecute people solely for entering the country illegally, Saenz said.

Saenz pointed out that the Senate bill comes on the heels of one signed into law late last year, the “Protect North Carolina Workers Act,” that forbids municipalities from recognizing ID cards issued by the Mexican consulate.

“It took away the use of consular IDs,” he said. “What we saw yesterday with Senate Bill 868 was basically a doubling down.”
Many of the forum participants wore turquoise-blue shirts that read “Fighting for our dignity” on the front and “Si a Las Licencias, No A Las Restricciones” – Yes to licenses, No to restrictions – on the back.

Harrison remained unconvinced.

“Why do you need an ID to talk to me?” he asked. “I don’t care if you’re documented or not, my job is to keep you safe, whether you believe it or not.”

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/loc...e77572562.html

[Beezer]

They need to teach these children that WE are a Nation of Laws. That your parents paid smugglers, human traffickers, to come into the USA and they are criminal trespassers.

We are a Nation of migrants...who get in line and come here LEGALLY!

These parents need to stop putting THEIR children in constant fear, pack them up and take them back to Mexico.

These children need to ask their President why are you forcing my family to leave, my relatives? Why are you allowing your corrupt government to human traffic your people? Why are you allowing the cartels and gangs over run our Country! Why are you not a respectful good neighbor to USA?

Why isn't the President of MEXICO providing safe neighborhoods, health care, education and jobs for his own people.

NO ID'S, NO DRIVER'S LICENSE, NO FREEBIES, NO ANCHOR BABIES. NO PAPERS...NO ENTRY.

Stop aiding and abetting illegal aliens to break our laws. They have no right to benefits or ID's. They have ID's...from Mexico!

[posylady]

There parent are the ones that put them in them in this situation to begin with not the laws that have been there all along. Then they try to blame it on the laws instead of their parents.

[Captainron]

The Sheriff's statement about not knowing the true identity of people, without the 287g program, should provide a lot of insight into this process. Our state was one of the lead (thanks to the ACLU) jurisdictions in getting county sheriffs to abandon the 287g program. But this is a factual statement showing the other side of that issue. Moreover, our county stated to the court that they didn't have enough jailspace, either, and had to prioritize detainees. But the reality is that they own a $60 million county jail facility, and pay $500,000 to maintain it, and it has never housed anyone. So they are definitely NOT lacking space at least in our county.

What do the state children's welfare departments say about this absentee father trend? I had hoped that very young children would have to leave with their parent(s). Too bad both of them aren't deported; the state has no authority to place the children with relatives.

[MW]

“At school we are told about universal human rights: education, food, shelter, safety, the right to freedom and to be able to migrate,” he said. “Mr. Harrison, does that mean my teachers have been lying to me, or is it the government favors racist laws and programs?

If you would have paid more attention in school you would realize that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a treaty, so it does not directly create legal obligations for countries. So no you are not entitled to migrate across our border without legal authorization! The United States Government grants that authority, not a declaration by the United Nations (where the Universal Declaration of Human rights originated) or your teacher!

[Captainron]

And in fact the Inter American Convention on Road Traffic of 1943 IS a treaty and foreign drivers are supposed to bring their own licenses. It helps identify them, and whether they should be driving here in the first place!