Thread: Valley leaders ill over illegals

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Valley leaders ill over illegals
Dec 6, 2005, 08:12 AM PST

Searching for a solution. Valley leaders say illegal immigrants are flooding the area. Many call it a growing problem that's come to the forefront recently.

It's a land that asks for the tired and poor, the wretched refuse of other teeming shores. But how does it protect itself from outsiders? And should it?

In a regularly scheduled meeting, district one commissioner Mo Brooks files a resolution.

"Whereas illegal aliens murder and kill too many Americans in general," he reads. "And whereas illegal aliens hurt public education."

Ten minutes, plenty of blame, and several pages later, Brooks resolves to ask for the authority to enforce immigration laws locally. Right now, only federal INS agents have that power. The proposal is at least partially in response to two separate deadly incidents: first, the August 29th murder of Huntsville police officer Daniel Golden in which the suspect is an alleged illegal and second, the May 27th traffic deaths of four members of one family. Officers say the driver was an undocumented immigrant who ran a stop sign.

"It is a drain on public education," Hugh McKitchen says.

He stood in support of Brooks' resolution.

"The laws against them should be enforced and they should be sent home," he says.

At least one member of the hispanic community opposes the resolution, calling the idea laughable. Commissioner Bob Harrison agrees.

"Yes we do have a problem," he says. "The system is broke, but to repair the system is not to react in a vigilante kind of attitude."

An attitude sparking more than a hour's worth of heated debate that's unlikely to solve anything any time soon.

In the end, the resolution went down four to three, though the commission vows to address the situation at a later date.

Move to NEW Section for "Americans Killed by Illegals."