Democrat Commissioners Thwart Effort To Report Illegal Aliens
While conceding that James’ proposal was awkwardly phrased and poorly presented, Cooksey said its intent was valid.
“My understanding of the request is we’re trying to find a way to provide the information that we get through our application process to the Department of Homeland Security,” Cooksey said, “so we can ferret out people who provide a security risk or risk of violent crime in our community.”
The country’s immigration problem was “completely out of control,” he said, with a flood of undocumented workers hurting “people that are in the lowest end of our economic scale by driving down wages and taking away jobs that Americans would otherwise do.”
At the same time, Cooksey said, illegal immigration “dramatically adds costs to our social service systems and our education systems.”
“No other country in the world is as liberal in its immigration policy as the United States,” he said. “No other country in the world lets millions of undocumented people come into their country and then provides social services for those people. It is something that we need to get under control as a society.”
Bentley echoed that sentiment. Much of the frustration and concern embroiling the immigration issue, she said, can be attributed to the financial stress it is putting on county and state governments, which are supporting people who are in this country illegally and who are taking advantage of the schools and welfare systems.
By way of local example, Bentley said that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools spends about $90 million educating illegal immigrants.
“That’s where the rubber meets the road,” she said. “That’s why the tension is so high. It is not because we don’t respect or love each other in this community. But we have taxpayers who are at the end of their ropes, financially, and our state and county governments are at a point where we have to start deciding how are we going to manage through this time.”
Murrey agreed with the need for immigration reform, but said James’ proposal was the wrong way to achieve it.
“I think we have a real problem, but this motion suggests that we should do something that is illegal or against the statutes,” Murrey said. “It suggests that ultimately we could end up taking food from the mouths of American children or that we could break up families by separating parents from their children. I don’t think that’s the way to go about getting a message back to Washington.”
James said his proposal was more focused on giving county officials the ability to report illegal immigrants for safety reasons, than on tackling the complex issue of comprehensive immigration reform.
“I want to have some degree of comfort that the people at Homeland Security have received it (information about illegals) and evaluated it, so that they know who is here,” James said. “And since they didn’t arrive in the country legally, it’s very possible they don’t know.”
Dunlap wasn’t buying it.
“What we’re talking about is American citizens; we’re not talking about illegals or some foreign group of people,” Dunlap said, even though the board was discussing how the county could report illegal aliens. “We’re talking about people who are just as much American citizens as you are, Mr. James. They might look different than you, some of them may speak differently than you, but they have the same rights as a U.S. citizen as you have.”
On that note, Dunlap accused James of playing politics with the issue of immigration.
“We need to put the rat on the table,” Dunlap said. “This is really about politics. Notice the timing of this issue, right before the election, when you have your colleagues talking about immigration issues. And we know that your job is to put the Democrats in an awkward position, at least that’s what you think, so the public will view this as Democrats being soft on immigration issues. I pray that what you’re attempting to do backfires.”
If prayers weren’t enough, Dunlap threw in some wholly speculative and ominous warnings for good measure.
“I would say to this community and remind you that if Mr. James’ colleagues take over this commission, you’ll have a whole lot more who think like he does,” said the commissioner who had accused his colleague of playing politics with the issue of immigration.
Countered Bentley: “For Commissioner Dunlap to assume that if a Republican majority is elected that it is the end of the world for the immigrant community is shameful.”
1 2
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=3739
