Thread: Way to go Raleigh

Lived in Raleigh up till four years ago, a once beautiful clean city, has turned into a dump of sorts in some areas. We lived in a very nice part of town, when we were up there last Oct. I could not believe the change in just four years. Had to get a tire, so we went where we always had gone for our car, there was not one English magazine in the waiting room....all Spanish. There are billboards in Spanish, and seemed like every other person was speaking Spanish. But..... N.C. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, both Republicans, voted with the minority to continue debate and are expected to vote against the bill today.
State Senator: Undocumented Workers' Arrests Point To Bigger Problem
http://www.wral.com/news/9260341/detail.html

RALEIGH, N.C. -- At least 15 undocumented workers were taken into custody Tuesday after an early-morning raid in west Raleigh that stemmed from a traffic accident along Interstate 40 on Monday.


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Video: I-40 Accident Leads To Seven Arrests On Illegal Immigration Charges
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed the raid on Tuesday at Carter-Finley Stadium where the workers had been hired by Miller & Long Construction to renovate the stadium, in a $19 million upgrade financed by the Wolfpack Club.

Seven of those taken into custody were arrested and charged with having a false ID and with returning to the United States after being deported. Authorities plan to deport them.

Authorities discovered the illegal hot spot while tracking three undocumented people who were involved in Monday's accident, which left a van on its side and tied up traffic for hours in the eastbound lanes.

Although the driver, who the North Carolina Highway Patrol said caused the accident, fled the scene, troopers questioned the other three passengers. They did not have documents or identification to prove their citizenship and were released. The driver has not been located.

State Rep. Russell Capps, R-Wake, said troopers should have not have allowed the undocumented men to leave the accident scene and said Monday's accident is an example of how state law enforcement should be more aggressive and involved in detaining and tracking illegal immigrants.

"I am amazed that law enforcement's position is they cannot detain these people," Capps said.

His staff is researching state law on traffic stops, Capps said, and if the law does not allow for undocumented people to be detained, he said he would introduce a bill to make it a law.

SURVEY
A test program will allow Mecklenburg County sheriff deputies to detain and remove illegal aliens. What do you think about this idea?
I think it will help put a dent in the illegal immigrant situation in N.C.
I think the deputies should stick with matters pertaining to their town or county.
I would like to see how the test program works before making a decision.
No opinion

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"(It) would allow law enforcement to detain people that cannot be documented until we can find out where they're from and what they're about," Capps said. "We never know whether there's a terrorist involved; we don't know where that person comes from or what he's doing. If a person is undocumented, we need to find out before he's released."

A spokesman for the Highway Patrol said troopers did the right thing by taking names and releasing the undocumented workers from the wreck scene.

"Law enforcement officers have to be careful not to identify any person by their ethnicity (or) to point a finger at a wreck scene and say, 'They're illegal. We don't do that, that's profiling," said Lt. Everett Clendenin.

"It's nice to sit back at home and say, 'They should've done this,' 'They should've done that,' but the bottom line is we have processes to follow and people have rights," Clendenin added.

Where the line is between personal rights and Homeland Security is currently part of a nationwide debate on illegal immigration. State Sen. Hugh Webster, R-District 24, said Tuesday's arrests point to a larger problem.

"With this acceptance of illegal conduct, conduct comes worse and worse things," Webster said.

The North Carolina Department of Labor says immigration issues are not in its jurisdiction. It is not state law, but federal law, that prohibits employers from knowingly employing illegal workers, labor officials say.

The federal government says it simply cannot be at every job site across the state, which means federal regulations are not often enforces. The federal government relies on employers to check for proper identification, which officials say can easily be falsified.

"Things have to change in Washington," Gov. Mike Easley has said. "That's where the laws are written."

But as state's wait for legislation and enforcement to be implemented, the immigration problem continues.

"(You can) A: ignore it; B: you can try to deport 11 and 30 million people; or C: find some way for people to work toward citizenship," Easley has said.

Mecklenburg County is the first municipality in the nation to test an expanded crackdown on illegal immigration. Homeland Security has allowed some deputies to start the deportation process for illegal immigrants. They have access to the U.S. immigration database and can quickly find out if a person is wanted by federal custom officials.

One key benefit of the program is that it allows deputies to detain people on immigration violations until the issue can be resolved. The program may be expanded.

Previous Stories:
May 23, 2006: I-40 Accident Prompts Lawmaker To Push For Tougher State Immigration Laws

Reporters: Dan Bowens and Mark Roberts
Photographers: Keith Baker and Terry Cantrell
Web Editors: Kelly Gardner and Kamal Wallace
Copyright 2006 by WRAL.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Why don't we ask Capps and Webster to introduce the State Immigration Law that Georgia passed or something along those lines?

North Carolinians are ready for this and I think the mood of the General Assembly is such that now is the time with it getting so much attention nationally and elections coming up.

Originally Posted by Judy

Why don't we ask Capps and Webster to introduce the State Immigration Law that Georgia passed or something along those lines?

North Carolinians are ready for this and I think the mood of the General Assembly is such that now is the time with it getting so much attention nationally and elections coming up.

We're past ready Judy. What do we know about Capps? I think Webster would be behind a GA-type bill all the way.

North Carolinians are ready for this and I think the mood of the General Assembly is such that now is the time with it getting so much attention nationally and elections coming up

Although Bill and I love living here in Florida, we have seriously discussed moving back to NC.

I'm pretty sure a copy of Georgia's bill has already found it's way to Raliegh.

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/447850.html

Published: Jun 07, 2006 12:30 AM
Modified: Jun 07, 2006 02:51 AM

Carter-Finley workers plead, will be deported

Jennifer Brevorka, Staff Writer

RALEIGH - Six men arrested by federal immigration agents at Carter-Finley Stadium last month have pleaded guilty to entering the country illegally and will be deported, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Federal immigration agents accompanied troopers from the state Highway Patrol to a construction site at the stadium May 23 in hopes of finding a driver who had fled from an auto accident. When federal agents arrived, more than 50 workers in hard hats ran. Seven, including one juvenile, were arrested.

Federal agents later found the suspected driver, Reynalda Guitierres, 28, in Durham and charged him with illegal entry.

Justice Department officials said that the following men pleaded guilty to illegal entry and will remain in federal custody while they undergo the deportation process: Victorino Marquez-Hernandez of Mexico; Antolin Contreras-Maldonado of Honduras; Armando Hernandez-Penaloza of Mexico; Melvin Jovel-Hernandez of Honduras; Omar Miguel Barbosa of Mexico and Demetrio Huerta-Ordonez of Mexico. Agents also charged Marquez-Hernandez with possession of false immigration documents.

A Guatemalan teenager also was charged with illegal entry and possession of false immigration documents, but his case was continued, officials said. They did not release his name.