Panelists discuss immigrant rights and law at community forum

The Town of Chapel Hill and Carolina Student Legal Services held a forum on Wednesday night to discuss immigration and its potential effects on at-risk residents of the community.

The event opened with a statement from professor Lynn Calder, a member of UNC’s immigration law clinic. Calder explained various laws and types of visas regarding refugees and immigrants.

“This full room is indicative of the past week,” Calder said.

Richard Sin, an immigration attorney at the law office of Matthew Charles Suczynski, highlighted ways undocumented residents of the area had less legal leeway than US Citizens.

After their presentations, Calder posed a series of questions to the panel. Members of the panel were Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood, Orange and Chatham County District Attorney Jim Woodall and Dean of Students for Student Affairs Jonathan Sauls.

All law enforcement officers said they did not consider controlling immigration to be a priority of their agencies.

“Our mission is to serve our community, whatever that community looks like, whatever that community is,” Blackwood said. “As your sheriff, it’s my job to serve our community. And where another county might have a different vision, that’s okay. That’s not our vision.”

Blackwood’s comment was met with applause. Throughout the event, the panel stressed to the audience that their concerns lay with protecting the citizens of the area, not deporting them. None of the agencies report to U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement unless strictly necessary, but all reiterated they were uncertain as to what policies were soon to head their way.

“The reality is that we have students that are directly affected by this series of orders, we have individuals that have family and friends that are affected by these orders,” Sauls said. “We have tremendous anxiety in this as folks anticipate what might be around the corner.”

While the University and law enforcement pledged to assist the community to the best of their abilities, concerns were still voiced following Sauls’ pledge that the University would protect students.

“In a way, I am very thankful for the attention that immigration issues are getting, because I have lived in this community for over 20 years, and I have seen very little action to protect immigrants,” Chapel Hill Council member Maria Palmer said. “And I guess I want to say to the University, and the law school, can you do something?”

Palmer voiced concerns regarding the lack of attention shown to University employees, many of whom are refugees or immigrants.

When asked if they could recall being actively involved in a deportation during their years of service, Blackwood, Woodall and Carrboro Police Chief Walter Horton all said that they had not.

“I’ve been with the Carrboro police office for 23 years, and to be honest, I can’t remember one,” Horton said. “I think the number’s zero.”

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