Man who tried to stop officer fights deportation
Charlotte immigrant's arrest during a bogus traffic stop by now-disgraced officer led to charges he's here illegally.
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Franco Ordonez

Posted: Thursday, May. 06, 2010

An immigrant continues his fight against deportation today after he was fraudulently arrested for trying to stop a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer he says was fondling his girlfriend.

Abel Moreno was jailed Dec. 29 after he confronted now-disgraced Officer Marcus Jackson during a bogus traffic stop. Moreno called 911 to report Jackson's behavior, but Jackson ordered Moreno to end the call and arrested him for resisting an officer.

While in jail, Moreno was identified as being in the country illegally through a controversial program that some say nets people who aren't a serious threat. And even though the resisting charge was dropped, Moreno was still targeted for deportation.

Jackson, 26, has since been fired and remains in jail after six women - including Moreno's girlfriend - accused him of sexually assaulting them while he was on patrol.

Moreno's case is set to be heard in Charlotte's immigration court this morning.

His dilemma is at the intersection of several high-profile community issues: an officer accused of preying on people he's sworn to protect, a jail program that immigrants say breeds distrust of authorities, and the plight of a man who, while in the country illegally, put himself at risk to protect someone.

"All I did was try to stop that police officer from doing anything worse to her," Moreno told the Observer on Wednesday.

Moreno is from Mexico but says his life now is here, in the United States, where he's lived and worked for six years. He's talked about marriage with his girlfriend, and about starting a family.

"Now, I'm scared I'll have to leave," he says.

While Moreno would not discuss his status, he says he's seeking two visas that would allow him to stay and work in the United States for three years. One is for immigrants who are helping police in a criminal matter, such as the case against Jackson. The other is for immigrants who are victims of crime.

Moreno's lawyer will ask the immigration judge to grant them more time to acquire the visas.

"He's just kind of basically become a member of the community here, working here and living here," says Charlotte lawyer Rob Heroy.

If he's denied, Moreno says, he'll probably go to the small town near Acapulco where his brother lives, and work in the kitchen for a quarter of what he makes now in a local restaurant.

Moreno's girlfriend told police she had been stopped once before by Officer Jackson, about eight weeks before the Dec. 29 incident.

Jackson stopped her, ordered her out of her car and touched her breasts, she later told police.

Jackson assaulted her again on Dec. 29, she said. But this time Moreno was there and called 911 for help.

Jackson told dispatchers to ignore Moreno's call - then took him to jail.

The jail's 287(g) program identifies inmates who appear to be in the country illegally and begins deportation proceedings. Critics say the program targets immigrants with minor or even false criminal charges.

"This whole process is just making him nervous in general," Heroy said. "As a result of what happened with him and the police, it just makes him inherently suspicious of the government."

Immigrant advocates in Charlotte say the program leads to racial profiling and alienates the Hispanic community. But supporters - including Mecklenburg Sheriff Chipp Bailey - say the program helps identify criminals and get them off the streets.

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