Thread: NC-Dole talks textiles, energy and 287 (g) during visit

Dole talks textiles, energy and 287 (g) during visit

August 8, 2008 - 5:07PM
Roselee Papandrea / Times-News
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole does not support rounding up illegal immigrants in Alamance County and running them through the 287 (g) program.

"It's not practical," said Brian Nick, Dole's chief of staff. "It's not possible. It's not fundable and in many cases, how would you possibly monitor the abuse of civil rights and all kinds of other things."

Dole, who was in the county Friday to receive the N.C. Textile Manufacturers Association's Chairman Award at National Spinning Co., spoke to the Times-News about several issues impacting county residents, including the 287 (g) program, gas prices, mill closings and layoffs.

Dole said the federal government has provided sheriffs in North Carolina with tools, including 287 (g), to help to "identify, to apprehend and to deport those who have committed crimes."

"They have self-identified by the criminal behavior they have engaged in," Dole said.

She said that a representative from her office meets with sheriffs from North Carolina once a month to discuss immigration issues. She was aware of two recent cases in Alamance County that have sparked debate among county officials and immigration advocates but didn't comment specifically on the arrest of Maria Chavira Ventura or Marxavi Angel-Martinez.

Ventura was stopped in June on Interstate 40/85 by a sheriff's deputy and charged with driving without a license and displaying a fictitious license plate. Ventura's three children were left alone on the side of the interstate for eight hours.

Angel-Martinez, a part-time library worker in Graham, was charged in July by Immigration and Customs Enforcement with identity theft and other felonies for using the Social Security number of a dead person to gain employment. Sheriff Terry Johnson told the Times-News that Angel-Martinez was investigated after his department received information from a confidential source that an illegal county employee received services at the health department.

Dole stressed that the 287 (g) program was designed to identify criminals and not meant to create a manhunt for people who are breaking the law because they are living in this country illegally.

"The sheriffs have been very, very strong in making that clear that they are not just going out to pick people off the street," Dole said. "It's not what they want to do. They want to focus on crimes."

Racial profiling was happening in North Carolina and across the country before 287 (g) was implemented and continues to occur, said Nick, who didn't specifically reference any law enforcement agency.

"It's a terrible thing and nobody condones that in Sen. Dole's office," he said. "We don't have the manpower or the resources to go out and do a wholesale roundup of illegal immigrants. It's just not practical."

In regard to the textile industry, Dole was praised by both Jim Chesnutt, chief executive officer of National Spinning Co., and Allen Gant Jr., president of Glen Raven, for her accessibility and contribution to both textiles and manufacturing in the state.

Chesnutt presented Dole with a plaque recognizing her as a recipient of the N.C. Textile Manufacturers Association's Chairman's Award.

"Suffice to say, it has been a very guarded award and has only been made to those people who have made a difference in this industry, specifically the textile industry and the manufacturers in North Carolina," Chesnutt said. "You have done that for us. You have carried the banner when we needed it."

Dole expressed concern for the hundreds of people in the county who have been laid off from textile jobs. She said that both the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act and the Higher Education Act, both of which she supports, are meant to help people laid off from area mills get the training they need to find other jobs.

Dole recently co-sponsored the Gas Price Reduction Act, which lifts the ban on outer continental shelf exploration and gives individual states the right to search for deep ocean resources. She said she is also working on measures so that people will start seeing a difference at gas pumps immediately.

"First thing I want to do that will really help you right away, is take a third of the oil in the strategic petroleum reserve and sell it and show the speculators that we mean serious business here," she said. "That would help to immediately bring down the price of gasoline at the pump."

Dole said she called upon the president to set up a gas market task force to make sure there isn't any "manipulation or corruption" going on.

"Those things can help immediately," she said. "Now, we've got to throw everything on the table, including the kitchen sink. We need a comprehensive energy plan and that's what I think is vitally important right now."

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/dole_1 ... talks.html

"They have self-identified by the criminal behavior they have engaged in," Dole said.

So well said .

Well .... I would like to see the 287 (g) program expanded to seek out illegal aliens in our country illegally.

Elizabeth, either you want to stop illegal immigration or your don't. This only stopping criminal illegal aliens doesn't fly with me. I want all illegal immigration stopped because they're all illegal aliens which makes them all criminal illegal aliens in my book. There's no difference between the illegal alien that committed a robbery and walked away with $200 than the illegal alien that stole a job for 10 years and walked off with $200,000. In fact, the latter is 1000 x more damaging to our people. You stop the latter and the former won't exist.



But that said, we're thankful for the 287 (g) program and the Sheriffs interested in using the program to remove as many illegal aliens as the program guidelines will allow.

How do you win an "AWARD" for letting our INDUSTRIES LEAVE THE COUNTRY WHILE MANY AMERICANS LOOSE THEIR JOBS That is like getting an award for NOT DOING YOUR JOB WELL

Reading another article in the news awhile back. Even Mexico has been hurting for jobs since they found CHEAPER LABOR in other countries ,like CHINA, and moving the businesses there PURE GREED

And with so many Americans loosing their jobs...what happens to the TAX BASE that keeps this American Government functioning? OOOPS, Did I say functioning

"Those things can help immediately," she said. "Now, we've got to throw everything on the table, including the kitchen sink. We need a comprehensive energy plan and that's what I think is vitally important right now."

Well how convenient

Does anyone remember at the beginning of the ELECTION PROCESS how the "ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION" was at the top of the list And all of a sudden we hit another large ENERGY CRISIS>>>>>>>PRETTY DAMN CONVENIENT if I must say so myself

Originally Posted by Judy

Well .... I would like to see the 287 (g) program expanded to seek out illegal aliens in our country illegally.

Elizabeth, either you want to stop illegal immigration or your don't.

My thoughts exactly

Sen. Dole has career and recent grades of A from ABI. Overall, she is very good on this issue and much better than the person who is running against her. I hope she wins reelection because we're going to need her.

www.elizabethdole.org

Originally Posted by Populist

Sen. Dole has career and recent grades of A from ABI. Overall, she is very good on this issue and much better than the person who is running against her. I hope she wins reelection because we're going to need her.

www.elizabethdole.org

Yes and hopefully she can send more jobs to other countries like she did with her CAFTA votes. After all we dont need any manufacturing jobs in the US.

Her CAFTA Vote helped push forward the NAU Agenda. CAFTA allows Manufacturers to come into the United States from Central American Countries and they are allowed to bring their own workers with them.

Nothing like back dooring them in.

Added to Home Page

http://www.alipac.us/article3435.html

From Sen. Dole's campaign website:

Securing our Borders and Enforcing our Laws

*Opposing Amnesty - Elizabeth was a leader in opposing Ted Kennedy’s Senate Amnesty bill because it rushed to legalize millions of illegal aliens. Called for addressing the real crisis by first focusing on securing our borders and enforcing our laws.

*Strengthening Our Borders – Elizabeth cosponsored $3 billion in emergency spending for security and enforcement measures that include: hiring more Customs & Border Protection officers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, investigators and U.S. Marshals; improving employee verification; building hundreds of miles of border fencing; adding 45,000 detention beds; and providing training and tools for local law enforcement to handle criminal illegal aliens.

*Local Enforcement – Elizabeth worked with North Carolina sheriffs across our state and federal officials to establish the nation’s first and only statewide plan to identify and process criminal aliens. This plan will allow North Carolina Sheriffs to coordinate with federal officials and access the tools necessary to deal with illegal aliens who have self-identified themselves by committing crimes, such as drunk driving and gang-and drug-related activities. Elizabeth wants to help keep our communities safe.

*Elizabeth introduced a measure that became law that prevents the State Department from issuing visas to citizens of countries that decline to accept their nationals when U.S. courts order them removed from the United States. This law prevents new visas from getting issued to countries that refuse to accept their nationals removed by the United States.

*Elizabeth worked with Congresswoman Sue Myrick to secure an immigration court for North Carolina, which was the only state of the 14 states with the largest illegal alien populations without an immigration court. The Department of Justice plans to open the court in September 2008.

http://www.elizabethdole.org/docs/pages ... -Laws.html

All that is good as she should be doing that. But she is still allowing them in other ways such as the one I mentioned above. Immigration is only one issue. I look at all of the issues.