Tell NC legislators that we don’t want to follow Arizona and Alabama – say NO to harmful anti-immigrant legislation that could be introduced here in North Carolina.
A special committee of the NC House has been meeting to determine whether to introduce an Arizona-style “Papers, please” bill. This is your chance to hold lawmakers accountable for making NC a welcoming state that is competitive in the global economy instead of enacting costly measures that will separate families and threaten our economy.
North Carolina can’t afford anti-immigrant policies.
They’re expensive. (Download factsheet)
- States and local governments have spent millions of dollars in litigation costs to defend these laws. For example, it has cost Arizona $1.9 million thus far to defend S.B. 1070 against challenges by the U.S. government and by private parties.
- Each deportation costs American taxpayers $23,482. Conservative estimates show that it would cost the government $2.8 billion if it were to deport all 120,000 undocumented migrants in Alabama.
- In Georgia, the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association estimates that the losses stemming from the state’s anti-immigrant law totaled at least $250 million in 2011 alone.
They’re impractical. (Download factsheet)
- It’s the federal government’s job to regulate and enforce immigration laws. The federal courts have enjoined the majority of state laws that aim to enforce federal immigration law (see news articles here, here and here).
- Our state’s atmosphere matters to businesses. In other states, including Arizona, business leaders have publicly asked state legislatures to stop pursuing an anti-immigrant agenda that is bad for business and bad for workers. Alabama and Georgia made national headlines last year as crops rotted and farmers lost millions of dollars because of labor shortages caused by anti-immigrant legislation.
They’re immoral. (Download factsheet)
- North Carolina has a long tradition of hospitality and welcome for people with different backgrounds. Instead of scapegoating immigrant communities, elected officials should work together to enact practical solutions to our broken immigration system that reflect our best values and uphold our traditions as a nation of fair and sensible laws.
- Followers of Jesus are called to “welcome the foreigner” and love their neighbors, and most immigrants to North Carolina are Christian sisters and brothers. Most Christian denominations across the theological and political spectrum have official resolutions calling for just and humane comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.
- Nearly all religious communities find in their scriptures traditions that call them to welcome the stranger, promote hospitality, and seek justice.
Here’s the official announcement from the NC General Assembly:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
THE HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE STATE’S ROLE IN IMMIGRATION POLICY
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGMarch 28, 2012
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Room 643
Legislative Office Building
300 N. Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27603The public is invited to address the North Carolina House Select Committee on the State’s Role in Immigration Policy during a committee meeting to take place on Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m., in Room 643 of the Legislative Office Building, Raleigh, NC. The meeting will open with presentations to the Committee and will close with public comment during the final hour of the meeting.
This Select Committee was created under the authority of the Hon. Speaker of the House Thom Tillis to study and examine the State’s role in immigration policy, including the effectiveness of laws already in effect pertaining to immigration as well as best practices in other states. The Committee includes 12 members of the North Carolina House of Representatives: Representative Iler (Co-chair), Representative H. Warren (Co-chair), Representative Brisson, Representative Cleveland, Representative Faircloth, Representative Folwell, Representative Hamilton, Representative Jones, Representative Pierce, Representative Starnes, Representative Stevens, and Representative Wray.
As part of the Committee’s information gathering process, the Committee Co-chairs invite members of the public who wish to make public comment to the Committee on the State’s Role in Immigration Policy to attend. Individuals who wish to address the Committee may sign-up between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on March 28 prior to the hearing outside of Room 643. Speakers are asked to limit comments to three minutes. If more speakers sign-up than time is allotted to speak during the public hearing period, the chairs will select speakers from the list by random lot during the public hearing. Speaker substitutions will not be permitted. Speakers are encouraged to furnish a written copy of their comments if possible. The Committee will also accept written comments from the public from those who do not wish to speak.
For more information, contact Carla Farmer, Committee Clerk, (919)301-1450, ilerla@ncleg.net.
Thanks to everyone who participated – we have over 150 responses including more than 50 pastors! We are no longer collecting comments but we invite you to contact your elected officials directly:
This committee was created under the authority of the Hon. Speaker of the House Thom Tillis, Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net, 919-733-3451
Representative Iler (Co-chair), Frank.Iler@ncleg.net, 919-301-1450
Representative H. Warren (Co-chair), Harry.Warren@ncleg.net, 919-733-5784
Representative Brisson, William.Brisson@ncleg.net, 919-733-5772
Representative Cleveland, George.Cleveland@ncleg.net, 919-715-6707
Representative Faircloth, John.Faircloth@ncleg.net, 919-733-5877
Representative Folwell, Dale.Folwell@ncleg.net, 919-733-5787
Representative Hamilton, Susi.Hamilton@ncleg.net, 919-733-5754
Representative Jones, Bert.Jones@ncleg.net, 919-733-5779
Representative Pierce, Garland.Pierce@ncleg.net, 919-733-5803
Representative Starnes, Edgar.Starnes@ncleg.net, 919-733-5931
Representative Stevens, Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.net, 919-715-1883
Representative Wray, Michael.Wray@ncleg.net, 919-733-5662
Say no to policies that fuel the fires of suspicion, discrimination and fear. We are so blessed in this land. Let us share our blessings – especially when the sharing of these blessings ends up being a blessing to us all! Yes, there are some “bad apples” that seem to abuse these shared blessings. But let not our behavior be dragged down by that example. Let us be led by our ideals, our hopes for this country and state, let us be led to promote the same gracious opportunities that allowed ALL of us to be here in the first place. Let us be led by love! To whom much has been given, much will be required.
I am both a fiscal and social conservative. I also believe in justice and mercy; these are two of the hallmarks that separate our country from much of the world and has been a fabric of our history.
Both my wife and I can trace our forebearers’ arrivals in America to immigration that was viewed as “illegal” in the 1600s and 1700s: these were 12 year old and 14 year olds, who as minors, signed (illegal because of their age) contracts to become indentured servants in America. Many, many other Americans’ ancestors came to America under similar circumstances.
We are a country of immigrants. Our values (personal property, law and order, the opportunity to advance) have attracted those who are willing to find a better life for themselves and their children). Our resources remain expansive. Some of our best virtues are that we promote compassion over legalism…tolerance over retribution.
Surely we have room for those people that came (with parents) as children to this country. Provided they follow the laws, they should have equal access to higher education and a path to citizenship.
The Wall Street Journal a number of months ago produced an infra-red photo of a tractor-trailer on its front page. Inside the trailer were scores of Guatemalans, who had paid a year’s worth of wages, to be taken through Mexico to enter the US. The conditions inside the truck would be considered unbearable to most due to the heat, overcrowding, and squalor. The speaker, who was addressing the audience on the topic about why he believed the best days of the US are ahead of this, commented: “I want these peoples’ DNA in our gene pool.”
I could not agree more. The willingness of self-sacrifice to make a better life is what has made this country unique.
Loving our neighbor does not mean we push our neighbors away so that we don’t have to acknowledge them as our neighbor. Loving our neighbor is the right choice in all ways — even financially.
This is a movement that I am glad clergy is taking on.