Thread: NC-Pendergraph wants laws tougher on immigration

July 31, 2010

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Pendergraph wants laws tougher on immigration
County board candidate ties illegal immigrants to state's budget deficit.
By Franco Ordoñez
fordonez@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Saturday, Jul. 31, 2010


Former Mecklenburg sheriff Jim Pendergraph, who is running for county commissioner, wants an Arizona-like immigration law in North Carolina.

In a news conference that was briefly hijacked by immigration advocates, Pendergraph said he wants to put more pressure on the state and federal governments to pass tougher measures against illegal immigration.

He was joined at the news conference by the two other Republican at-large candidates for the county commission, Dan Ramirez and Corey Thompson.

Citing statistics from the pro-enforcement immigration group Federation for American Immigration Reform, Pendergraph said the cost of illegal immigration in North Carolina is $2.1 billion a year.

"That is about the same as our budget deficit," he said. "Why can't our legislators and commissioners put these two numbers together and figure out that's one of the reasons we're in the hole financially?"

Pendergraph called the news conference a day after Arizona implemented its controversial new law.

Two immigration advocates briefly commandeered the conversation during the question and answer portion of the meeting.

Maudia Melendez of Jesus Ministry in Charlotte called herself a "disappointed" Republican after hearing the candidates speak.

She said former Republican President Ronald Reagan understood that the country needed immigrant labor when he passed amnesty legislation in 1986. She accused the at-large Republican candidates of dehumanizing immigrants for political purposes.

Ramirez, who is from Colombia, countered that Melendez was trying to dehumanize him by making such accusations. He said there is a difference between immigrants and illegal immigrants and laws need to be enforced.

Hector Vaca, a community organizer with Action NC Charlotte, questioned statements made by the candidates about illegal immigrants and the crime rate. He said the vast majority of illegal immigrants come to the U.S. to work.

Pendergraph reached national prominence battling illegal immigration locally. In May 2006, he became one of the nation's first sheriffs to join a pilot program that allowed him to place county inmates into deportation proceedings.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 350,000 illegal immigrants live in North Carolina.

UNC Charlotte Professor Ted Arrington expects the well-known former sheriff to win a seat on the county commission, but he cautioned that Pendergraph should be careful not to push the immigration issue too far.

Arrington said immigration is relevant to voters across the country, but he doesn't think it's the most pressing issue among local voters.

Candidate Thompson said the problems in Arizona and across the country stem from failures of the federal government to properly address the issue.

Without saying whether he supports or opposes Arizona's tough immigration law, Ramirez said he understands why Arizona wanted stronger enforcement. He said he, too, is tired of politicians making empty promises to fix immigration.

"It's all talk and no action," he said.



http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/0 ... ugher.html

I wish these people that keep saying we need a good worker program would educate themselves before they speak. We have over 20 worker programs. These people make me sick. They either no this fact and choose to ignore it, or they are ignorant of the fact and chose not to educate themselves.