Twitter shines light on local immigration debate

"@Meckcommish: 'It's halloween time..... Be scared little Democrats....... Bill James is coming.....' "

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James (right) tweeted that message in the midst of a controversial debate over whether the county should report illegal immigrants who seek public benefits for their U.S.-born children.

Commissioner Jennifer Roberts(left) questioned whether James was gloating. In response, James tweeted that he was just reflecting the commentary from the Democrats 'warning' the public about what may happen if Republicans took control of the board. Commissioner George Dunlap had suggested that if Republicans took over the board, the commission would have more people who supported James’ views and perspective.

It was just a taste of the back and forth that was occurring online at the same time of the emotional debate in the government center. When it comes to public meetings, the popular social media service,Twitter, has opened up an entirely new window giving us all another peek into the workings of our county government -- or at least the minds of some of our elected officials.

It's quite interesting to follow, but the one question is should elected officials be playing with their computers/smart phones at all during these meetings? Commissioners don’t typically make comments during public feedback. Should they be tweeting during them? What do you think?

James(@meckcommish) is the most prolific Twitter user among commissioners. (You will need to follow James in order to see his tweets.) He was criticized last night for focusing too much on his Twitter account instead of the conversation. But also Commissioner Jennifer Roberts(@CommishJennifer), who left the meeting early because of a sick child, Commissioner Karen Bentley(@BentleyCommish)(right) and Commissioner Neil Cooksey(@CommishNeil) weighed in online.

“You know, Twitter is great for providing a direct response without all of the back and forth,” James wrote during the meeting.

Here is a rough breakdown of a sample of tweets from last night’s twitterfest. There were simply too many to add all of them. I did my best to capture the conversation in order as it occurred. You can see the entire conversation by linking on the commissioners’ individual Twitter accounts.

(Observer Reporter) AprilBethea: #meckbocc moving up discussion of item 20 in whether county should report undocumented family members of those receiving DSS benefits
AprilBethea: James: action item about "reporting, not deporting," county has obligation to ensure, participate in national security of country
AprilBethea: James amends motion to send letter to dept of Homeland Security & obtain info on how we can privately report info we have to them.
AprilBethea: Cooksey seconded the motion
AprilBethea: Cogdell asks James for "civility in his comments." Came after James says he doesn't know if there are "Osama wannabes"
AprilBethea: James counters, calling out Cogdell for comments about James
Meckcommish: Are the Democrats soft on immigration?
Meckcommish: If individuals are illegal how can we not make sure that they are not terrorists.
Meckcommish: We are to 'comply' with the law by ignoring possible terrorists?
Meckcommish: Not sure where you got the idea that my ancestors were from the Mayflower. My ancestors were from Jamestowne.
Meckcommish: You know, Twitter is great for providing a direct response without all of the back and forth.
Meckcommish: "Change we believe in' - The premise that illegals are entitled to welfare & National Security takes a back seat to law breakers.
Meckcommish: # What illegal acts? Disclosing the NUMBER of illegals on welfare?
Meckcommish: Go Arizona !
CommishJennifer: Bill James wants NC to act like Arizona. So we can get sued by the Federal Govt too? RT @meckcommish: Go Arizona !
Meckcommish: Win or lose - the issue won't go away no matter the result tonight
Meckcommish: Timothy McVeigh?
Meckcommish: Everyone is upset about disclosure but none of them even care about the law.
Meckcommish: The only one that can put a child on the 'wrong path' are the illegal parents.
Meckcommish: parents would be deported with the anchor babies. Happens all the time.
Meckcommish: And the speakers are done. Now for the roasting !!
Meckcommish: I have a dream. That the US will be safe and not scared to enforce the law.
CommishJennifer: #meckbocc. Commissioner Murrey suggesting we add Comprehensive Immigration Reform to our federal legislative agenda. Good idea.
CommishNeil: I am puzzled by the assumption that the children of deported aliens would stay in the community.
Meckcommish: I have a dream. That the US will be safe and not scared to enforce the law.
Meckcommish: It's halloween time..... Be scared little Democrats....... Bill James is coming.....
Meckcommish: Illegal is illegal.
Meckcommish: Anchor Babies is offensive? Why?
Meckcommish: I think turning over the list to ICE would make the US safer
Meckcommish: I would have put it on regardless of the election. The timing was the disclosure of the numbers on welfare
CommishNeil: Cogdell: "Partisanship interferes with good government."
CommishJennifer: Is Bill gloating? RT @meckcommish: It's halloween time.... Be scared little Democrats....... Bill James is coming.....
Meckcommish: @CommishJennifer Not 'gloating' - just reflecting the commentary from D Commissioners 'warning' the public
BentleyCommish: We should not blindly follow federal law when we understand the devasting impact of illegal immigration on our local government.
AprilBethea: RT @MeckCounty: Board says no to Item #20 - asking feds to tell the County how it can report names of illegals who seek County services.

ICE says they'll evaluate, but adds immigration is a federal responsibility

Immigration officials say they're prioritizing their work by first focusing on dangerous criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to our communities.

U.S. Immigration officials were responding to Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James’ original proposal to have Mecklenburg County DSS alert immigration authorities when they’ve identified an illegal immigrant who has applied for public benefits for their U.S. born child. Doing so would violate a memorandum of understanding with Department of Homeland Security.

"ICE welcomes partnering with state and local law enforcement and will evaluate this proposed ordinance, but generally believes that enactment of immigration laws is a federal responsibility,” said Ivan Ortiz, a spokesman for ICE.

Last night, after a contentious debate, Mecklenburg County commissioners blocked a scaled-down version of the proposal to seek federal advice on how the county might report undocumented families of U.S.-born children who receive welfare benefits.
James faced dozens of passionate protesters who charged him with playing dirty politics. James said it was a matter of national security.

"We don't know if they're Osama wannabes," he said.

Debate over 'anchor babies'

U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of Georgia wants to change a federal policy that automatically grants citizenship to any baby born on U.S. soil.

The Associated Press reports that Deal, a Republican candidate for governor, and his supporters feel the current policy encourages illegal immigration and makes immigration enforcement more difficult.

"This is a sensible, overdue measure that closes a clause that was never meant to be a loophole," said Bob Dane, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks tighter immigration restrictions.

The term “anchor babies” is often used by opponents of illegal immigration who say immigrant families have children in the United States to establish a legal foothold. The children could also later sponsor citizenship for family members.

Automatic citizenship is part of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. It says:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

It’s no surprise that Deal’s proposition has raised concerns among Latino advocates and human-rights groups who say it contradicts the American spirit.

Lisa Navarrete, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group, told the AP that the proposed law wouldn't stem illegal immigration and would make the problem worse because not only would illegal immigrants be undocumented, their American-born children would be, too.

"You end up with potentially millions of children who are stateless, who were born here and have no ties to any other country, yet they're not considered citizens or part of the United States," she said.

It's very difficult to amend the constitution. In once scenario, an amendment must be proposed by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress. If approved, it must be ratified by majority votes in the legislatures or conventions of three-fourths of the states before it can become part of the Constitution.

A recent study the Pew Hispanic Center found that the number of American children who have at least one undocumented parent has increased considerably from 2.7 million in 2003 to 4 million in 2008. More than 70 percent of all children of illegal immigrants are American citizens.

Those children would not lose their citizenship under Deal’s proposal but the numbers demonstrate the rapid demographic shift taking place within the country’s undocumented population.

Photo: Children participate in a Charlotte rally for immigration reform. Over 150 latino students wrote letters asking President Obama to stop deportations that break up immigrant families. DAVID T. FOSTER III - dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com