Charlotteans featured in 'Latino in America' series

Bill and Betty Garcia are part of CNN's two day, four-hour documentary that debuts tonight and runs through tomorrow.

‘Garcia’ now ranks among the top 10 among last names in America.

Bill, former executive director of the International House, is Puerto Rican and Betty is Dominican. They moved from their Latino neighborhoods in New York to Charlotte 15 years ago for more affordable living and escape the grind of big city life.

But now they worry they made a wrong decision. They fear by living in Charlotte their sons are not getting the same Latino experience they had growing up in New York.

The show starts at 9 p.m. Click here to see excerpts from the Garcia's interviews.

Photo: CNN

Charlotte painter named Latino of Year

Charlotte painter Edwin Gil joins Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and NASA Astronaut José Hernández as national Latinos of the Year.

Gil was among a list of Latino politicians, journalists, engineers, chefs, and artists honored by the Spanish language wire service EFE for their success and contributions to the Latino community this year.

Gil, one of the most well known Latino artists in Charlotte, has gained national and international notoriety for his work on a 70- by 30- foot mural aimed at uniting displaced Colombians living around the world. Using the colors of the Colombian flag, more than 8,000 Colombians have put their hand prints on the mural in a sign of unity. Gil himself is a displaced Colombian. He moved to North Carolina after he was kidnapped at gun point in Medellin, Colombia and spent the night locked in the trunk of a car. That experience changed his life, led him to leave his home country, and later become a painter. At a ceremony in Boston this summer, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe met with Gil to present him with a national award.

In August, Sotomayor became the first Latina named to the Supreme Court. Astronaut Hernández is a former migrant worker who last month returned from a two-week space mission aboard shuttle Discovery to make repairs to the International Space Station. He later took a rare public stand for a U.S. astronaut when he said the country needs to give illegal immigrants a path to legalization.

Photo: DAVID T. FOSTER III - dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com

Congressman outlines plan for immigration reform

U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, presented his vision for a new comprehensive immigration reform bill Tuesday at a rally on the west lawn of the United States Capitol.

He spoke in front of thousands of immigrants who came to the capitol to calling for comprehensive immigration reform. He plans to introduce a full bill in the coming weeks.

His proposal focuses on a path to legalization for illegal immigrants, but also includes proposals for protecting immigrant workers, better employee verification systems, and stronger border enforcement.

“We need a bill that says if you come here to hurt our communities, we will not support you, but if you are here to work hard and to make a better life for your family, you will have the opportunity to earn your citizenship,” Gutierrez said. “We need a law that says it is un-American for a mother to be torn from her child, and it is unacceptable to undermine our work force by driving the most vulnerable among us further into the shadows.”

Critics say Gutierrez’s proposal amounts to an amnesty proposal for those who broke American laws.

"Amnesty sends a message that you’re a sucker to play by the rules," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which promotes stronger immigration enforcement, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Congressman Gutierrez released on his website the following outline of the core principles that he will use in his reform bill:

– Pathway to legalization for illegal immigrants
– Effective border enforcement
– Humane interior enforcement
– Protecting immigrant workers
– Stronger verification systems
– Family unification
– Updated visa system
– Agriculture jobs
– Access to college for undocumented students

Photo: Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., speaks at a rally for immigration reform on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Commissioner's request for investigation of undocumented students denied

The Mecklenburg County attorney will not investigate whether the county is vulnerable to a lawsuit for subsidizing the education of illegal immigrants at Central Piedmont Community College unless directed by the full board of commissioners, County Manager Harry Jones said today.

That is not likely to happen.

And in response to a request from Commissioner Bill James, commission Chairwoman Jennifer Roberts stated in an e-mail that she did not plan to seek an opinion from the Department of Homeland Security on this issue.

“In addition, since out of state tuition is greater than the per pupil cost of educating students at CPCC, those few undocumented immigrants who might be able to afford it will be subsidizing the education of other students,” she wrote.

We reported last week that James wants illegal immigrants to pay an additional county fee to attend CPCC. He said he’s concerned the county may otherwise be vulnerable to lawsuit based on a federal statute that prohibits illegal immigrants from being eligible "for any State or local public benefit."

The county gave CPCC $41 million for operational and construction budgets. Last month, the State Board of Community Colleges approved a new policy that will allow illegal immigrants to attend any of North Carolina's 58 community colleges, provided they graduate from a U.S. high school, pay the higher out-of-state tuition, and do not displace legal residents from classes. The new policy won't take effect until next academic year, at the soonest, pending administrative review.

James argues the state gets around the “public benefits” liability question because illegal immigrants will be required to pay ‘out-of-state’ tuition, which exceeds the cost to the state and therefore is not a subsidy.

But, James says, unlike the state, the county doesn’t require repayment via tuition. He says unless CPCC charges illegal immigrants for that subsidy the county would be breaking the law.

James accused Roberts of “taking an ostrich approach of ‘don’t ask as we don’t want to know,’” but that he did not plan to force the issue by putting it on the commission agenda.

“I think this is not the best approach because it will create animosity and bring out folks on both sides, something that can’t accomplish much except ratchet up tension on an issue that already has way too much,” James wrote in an email.

Commissioner: undocumented students need to pay county

Commissioner Bill James wants illegal immigrants to pay a county fee to attend Central Piedmont Community College. Otherwise, he says, the county may be vulnerable to a lawsuit for subsidizing the education of illegal immigrants at the state's largest community college.

He has sent a request to lawyers for the county and CPCC asking how they legally justify spending $41 million of county money (for operational and construction budgets) at a college that expects to admit illegal immigrants once a new policy is implemented.

This is kind of complicated. So stick with me.

Last month, the State Board of Community Colleges approved a new policy that will allow illegal immigrants to attend any of North Carolina's 58 community colleges, provided they graduate from a U.S. high school, pay the higher out-of-state tuition, and do not displace legal residents from classes.

James cites a federal statute that prohibits illegal immigrants from being eligible "for any State or local public benefit." The statute was the basis of an attorney general recommendation in May 2008 to stop enrolling illegal immigrants, which the community college system did. The attorney general’s office later reversed its opinion.

James argues the state gets around the “public benefits” liability question because illegal immigrants will be required to pay ‘out-of-state’ tuition, which exceeds the cost to the state and therefore is not a subsidy.

But, James says, unlike the state, the county doesn’t require repayment via tuition. He says unless CPCC charges illegal immigrants for that subsidy the county would be breaking the law.
“The county receives nothing from students, so anything we give to CPCC to subsidize ‘post-secondary education’ that benefits illegals is illegal,” he said.

In response to James concerns, Q. Shanté Martin, general counsel for N.C. Community College System responded in emails that, after further reviewing the laws, the Department of Homeland Security and the Attorney General found ‘that admitting illegal immigrants into public postsecondary institutions is not a violation of federal law.’

The attorney added:

"For a legal analysis specifically addressing any potential legal liability local counties may incur as a result of providing funding to colleges that admit illegal immigrants, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners may want to seek a legal analysis from the Department of Homeland Security since the federal government is responsible for providing an authoritative interpretation of federal law."

James said he does not want to cut support to CPCC, but wants the school to track undocumented students and require them to pay a fee to reimburse CPCC and the county for the local subsidy.

The decision to admit undocumented students is not expected to cause an enrollment rush. Before last year, when many campuses admitted students regardless of immigration status, about 110 of the state’s 800,000-plus community college students were in the country illegally. CPCC says it had 19 undocumented students. Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory had fewer than five. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College had one.

'America's Toughest Sheriff' loses immigration powers

Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced Tuesday that the federal government had stripped his office of its authority to patrol for illegal immigrants.

Immigration news doesn’t get much bigger than Sheriff Arpaio. The Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff is the most well known sheriff in the immigration debate. He’s famous for his hard-line, no apologies approach.

He makes inmates wear pink. He kept many illegal immigrants in a segregated enclosure known as Tent City where temperatures were so high that groups accused him of human rights violations.

He is a hero of the right and a villain to the left.

Arpaio says he’s not giving up. He plans to use continue his controversial “crime suppression operations,” despite DHS’s decision to not renew an agreement that would allow the sheriff to continue immigration enforcement on the streets, according to the East Valley Tribune.

“It’s all politics,” said Arpaio, who spent much of an afternoon news conference Tuesday wagging his finger, waving his arms and snarling at reporters.

The department of Justice and other federal agencies are investigating the sheriff’s office on accusations of racial profiling during the operations, the paper says.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, with some 160 federally trained deputies, is the largest in the program and the most closely scrutinized by people on all sides of the immigration debate, according to the New York Times.

Arpaio said the vast majority of the 33,000 arrests of illegal immigrants his office has made in the past two years under the agreement followed a check on the immigration status of people in jails. About 300 have been arrested in the field during “crime suppression” operations, he said.

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

HUMAN TRAFFICKING VIDEO

We reported today on the growth of human trafficking in the region. In response to the growth, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is creating a team of agents in Charlotte to focus on human trafficking, smuggling and exploitation issues. Here is a video agents put together on the issue and what people can do to help.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING VIDEO