Expanding program's ethics doubted by UNC

A study criticizing an immigration law enforcement program was presented by the UNC School of Law at a press conference on Wednesday.

The program 287(g) partners local sheriffs' offices with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It allows sheriffs' offices to identify undocumented immigrants through a federal database and start deportation procedures.

Currently" eight out of 100 counties in North Carolina participate in this program.

""287(g) has pawned the responsibility off to local agencies"" said Deborah Weissman, a UNC law professor and director of clinical programs.

Immigration traditionally has been a federal issue, and the study shows that giving local authorities the power to enforce federal laws is causing concerns statewide, Weissman said.

(Local officials) are not immigration enforcement officers"" she said. Four to five weeks of training is not enough in dealing with complex immigration issues.""

She said that the purpose of the program was to target terrorists and violent felons"" but that local officials are using it to arrest and deport immigrants mainly for misdemeanors and traffic violations. 

""People are being arrested without any instigation except that they look like Hispanic immigrants. That is called racial profiling"" said Rebecca Headen, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, who contributed to the study.

Headen also said that checkpoints are often set up outside Latino churches and markets to arrest and deport immigrants for charges such as driving without a license, jaywalking and fishing without a license.

Wake County is one of the counties in North Carolina that has implemented this program.

Donnie Harrison, Wake County's sheriff, said he has been monitoring his deputies and has not seen any signs of racial profiling.

We are getting people off the streets that aren't supposed to be here and have committed crimes"" he said.

Harrison also said more than 1,200 undocumented immigrants had been deported since the introduction of 287(g) last year.

Headen said the program makes the community more vulnerable to crime because immigrants will be too scared to report crimes that they were victims of or witnessed.

The study also mentions that the cases are not treated like criminal cases, so arrested immigrants who are facing deportation are not provided with a lawyer.

Orange County is implementing a similar program known as Secure Communities. Through this program, sheriffs' offices have access to the database, which can identify illegal immigrants once they are arrested but does not initiate deportation procedures.

Weissman said studies have shown that there have been problems with the database, and at times, the immigration status is not updated.

At least three U.S. citizens from North Carolina have been erroneously deported, she claimed.

All counties in North Carolina are expected to use this database by next year, Weissman said.

That's the nightmare we are going to face"" she said. We think North Carolina can do better. We are a state that has principles of liberty and equality.""



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