Kay Hagan Holds Immigration Roundtable With Local Sheriffs

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan (D-Guilford) today hosted a roundtable with local sheriffs to discuss illegal immigration and the 287(g) enforcement program which trains sheriffs as deputies to immigration officers. Sheriff Earl “Moose” Butler (Cumberland County), Sheriff Dick Jenkins (Nash County), Sheriff Worth Hill (Durham County), Sheriff Hubert Peterkin (Hoke County), Sheriff Mac Manning (Pitt County) and Sheriff Wayne Gay (Wilson County) joined Kay to participate in the roundtable.

“I don’t disagree that the 287 (g) program has merits, but currently, because it’s only being utilized in a handful of North Carolina counties and because the federal government is not funding it properly, it’s a problem that falls unfairly on the state and on the counties,” Kay said. “The immigration policies of the Bush/Dole team are just one more reason why Washington is broken. Of course I believe that illegal immigrants who are convicted of a crime should be deported, but the 287(g) program is not a comprehensive solution to our country’s immigration problem – it’s a band-aid. I invited these sheriffs to discuss their thoughts and concerns about the program, and to listen to their ideas for solutions.”

Kay opposes amnesty and believes that any long-term sustainable solution to our immigration issues includes securing our border, stopping the flow of illegal immigrants from coming into the country to begin with, and cracking down on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. There are estimated to be more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and 5 million of them have crossed into the country since 2001. The Bush Administration has not made enforcement of the borders a priority and employers are virtually never penalized by hiring illegal workers.

“We need a solution that doesn’t put the burden of solving the failures of Washington on the North Carolina taxpayers, as Bush and Dole are content to do,” Kay continued. “The federal government, not local taxpayers, should bear the full cost of immigration enforcement, training, and detention. I am very pleased to have had these sheriffs come to Raleigh and describe the challenges of applying this patchwork solution to a nationwide, federal problem.”

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