Immigrants feel the 'shadow of fear'

Hispanic immigrants feel targeted

By: Elizabeth DeOrnellas, Assistant State & National Editor
Posted: 10/30/07

MT. OLIVE - At noon the church is full, and it's easy to see from the mud-stained work boots and worn cowboy hats among the crowd why Father Edgar SepĂșlveda says his congregation is full of humble workers.

Just a few months ago the usually packed church suffered a drop in attendance, a phenomenon reflected in public gatherings across the state as escalating N.C. law enforcement efforts to combat illegal immigration have cast a shadow of fear across the N.C. Hispanic community.

SepĂșlveda, pastor of the MarĂ*a, Reina de las AmĂ©ricas parish in Mt. Olive, said the majority of his Hispanic congregation consists of undocumented immigrants.

The church is less than two miles from the Butterball slaughterhouse operation, where many of his Hispanic parishioners work.

Several months ago, law enforcement officials set up roadblocks three weekends in a row on the two roads that provide access to the church.

Parishioners were stopped and asked to show their driver's licenses on the way to and from services. Attendance at Mass eventually began to drop as the roadblocks increased in frequency.

SepĂșlveda said no one was arrested, although those without driver's licenses were ticketed, fined and ordered to appear in court.

The perceived threat of being caught and deported, legitimate or not, has affected parishioners, said Father James Garneau, who ministers at a nearby parish. "People are more concerned now about church attendance than they were."

And churches aren't the only places dealing with sudden vacancies - Marisol Jiménez-McGee, advocacy coordinator for El Pueblo, said the situation has worsened to the point that some N.C. Hispanics are afraid to be out in the community.

"A lot of people are talking about whether it's safe to go to those events, to send their children to school - whether it's safe to continue living in this state."

In Mt. Olive, the situation has stabilized within the past month. The police presence has disappeared, and church attendance has recovered, but some parishioners remain angry at what they called an attempt by political authorities to use traffic citations to extort money from the Hispanic population.

"We are bait for the politicians," said parishioner Raul Fuentes, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico 10 years ago.

The ambiguities of the law

SepĂșlveda said the police told him they had orders to check driver's licenses, offering no explanation for why roadblocks had been set up so close to a church in an isolated, rural area.

Garneau said he received a courteous reception when he sought to discuss the issue with local officials, including Duplin County Sheriff Blake Wallace, who has pushed for local authorities to have the power to enforce immigration regulations. Wallace could not be reached for comment.

"There wasn't a direct acknowledgment, 'Yeah, we were targeting that church,'" Garneau said. "I don't think anyone really wants to acknowledge that they're doing that."

Garneau said there is ample confusion about who is responsible for roadblocks in his and SepĂșlveda's parishes, which span areas of both Wayne and Duplin counties.

He said parishioners thought that county officers were operating the roadblocks, while the Wayne County Sheriff's Office told him it thought the state police were involved.

Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders confirmed that his office was not involved. "We only have 11 Hispanics in our jail," he said. The jail is designed to hold 200 inmates.

Winders added that the county is waiting to see what the federal government will do before taking local action against illegal immigration.

What is clear, Garneau said, is that the roadblocks are being conducted by local law enforcement, not federal immigration officials.

Police officers and sheriffs often work together to provide the manpower necessary to operate a roadblock, said Randy Jones, public information officer for the Alamance County Sheriff's Office.

Jones said license checks are a standard tool of law enforcement, one he's seen used frequently in his 34 years in the business.

Roadblocks haven't increased a lot in the last 10 years, he said, adding that some federal grants for highway safety programs require such checks.

Kaci Bishop, an immigration attorney with the N.C. Justice Center, said that officers must have a reasonable suspicion to stop a driver but that regulatory roadblocks can be set up as long as there is a set system in place to objectively designate which cars will be stopped.

Although those stopped by the police are legally required to give only their name and address, foreign-born U.S. residents are also legally obligated to carry documentation at all times, she said.

Anytime there's probable cause to stop a driver, it's up to the officer's discretion as to what documents to check, said Julia Rush, communications director for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office.

Father Patrick Keane, Raleigh diocese vicar for the Hispanics, said the state's selective targeting of the Hispanic community amounts to racial profiling. "You don't target blacks in cities; you shouldn't target Hispanics in rural areas."

He said roadblocks are ultimately ineffective. "It'll scare people, but the Hispanics are resilient."

The state requires that applicants present a valid Social Security number (or a U.S. government-issued document proving legal presence) to get a license, he said, adding that the policy has caused some Hispanics to contemplate returning to their home countries.

"It's just not worth it to live in fear, in the shadows," he said. "I do know several people who've said they're going back once their license expires."

A statewide concern

Jiménez-McGee has also seen fears of law enforcement affect her work. La Fiesta del Pueblo, held in Raleigh in early September, attracted 18,000 fewer people than last year's crowd of 30,000 because of rumors of immigration raids.

Jiménez-McGee said that it's hard to determine the concrete effect of increased anti-immigration measures but that many people in the Hispanic community have reported seeing a drop-off in attendance at meetings, festivals and businesses.

"There's no proof of that," she said, adding that rumors are rampant. "There are rumors of immigration being at schools and churches and Wal-Mart."

Garneau said he tries to calm people down as best he can. "There's a lot of rumor," he said. "There's a shadow of fear."

The church offers Hispanics a refuge and a connection to their heavily Catholic home countries, Keane said.

But he added that the church can only offer so much. "Our hands are tied, there's nothing we can do: We can't get them Social Security numbers; we can't get them jobs."


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