Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell is speaking out against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity around Charlotte. Her comments came during Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting.
“Being an immigrant does not make someone suspect," Rodriguez-McDowell said. "The type of approach that is being utilized is egregious and un-American at its core.”
Immigration advocates say they’ve seen a surge in detentions across Charlotte over the past week, including longtime undocumented residents without serious criminal records.
Rodriguez-McDowell says there should be federal immigration reform, but until that time, ICE should treat immigrants with dignity, and not as inherently criminal.
You can read Rodriguez-McDowell's full statement below:
“As a locally elected official, I want to address and denounce the recent actions of ICE in Mecklenburg County. There has been a disturbing increase in intimidating and aggressive activity - even today, the agency descended upon a church preschool on Central Avenue with nearly a dozen vehicles. The fear that these tiny, innocent residents of our county are feeling is real and completely uncalled for.
I believe that the people of Mecklenburg County want a fully reformed and functioning Immigration System whereby all people are treated with dignity, respect and due process. Until such a time that our elected leaders in Congress come together in good faith to make necessary reforms, we need a government which does not abuse and terrorize the vulnerable. We need a government that respects human dignity and does not treat as criminals all who may be either documented legal residents; undocumented but not guilty of any crimes; refugees; or migrants seeking asylum and those on Temporary Protected Status, also not guilty of any crimes, they are documented and yet still being terrorized.
There is no immigration status that automatically makes someone a criminal… immigration violations are civil matters, not criminal and should not be treated as such unless accompanied by actual crimes. Being an immigrant does not make someone suspect. The type of approach that is being utilized is egregious and un-American at it’s core.
I call on ICE to voluntarily respect sensitive locations such as schools, courthouses, workplaces, hospitals and places of worship. No one should fear utilizing these places.
I call on ICE to stop racial profiling of workers in trucks and vans and to stop using aggressive tactics on individuals who are not suspected of violent crimes.
I call on ICE to find actual criminals who put the public at risk, not parents who are just trying to survive and provide for their families.
I call upon all of us who believe in the rule of law and the American way to denounce mistreatment and abuse of vulnerable people and demand that lawmakers in Washington get busy on actual comprehensive immigration reform and fix our broken system.”
