Immigration issues: N.C. General Assembly should postpone vote

A proposed resolution in the N.C. Senate calls for an immigration bill to be voted on prematurely during the N.C. General Assembly’s short session. But the General Assembly should reject the resolution and postpone voting on the bill until the long session.

N.C. Senate Resolution 1349 proposes the consideration of a state immigration bill modeled after Arizona’s controversial Senate Bill 1070, which requires immigrants to carry documents proving their U.S. residency.

It’s already understood that the law could cause racial profiling, since law enforcement could stop anyone who even appears to be illegal.

If unable to obtain the appropriate documents, Arizona police have the power to keep suspected illegal immigrants under arrest until they can be confirmed legal or illegal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Although a recent Civitas poll shows that 64 percent of North Carolinians support the Arizona law, citizens need to know the consequences of the law before they take a stance.  

A 2006 study by the Kenan-Flagler Business School reported that of more than 600,000 Hispanics living in North Carolina, 55.5 percent were authorized and 44.5 percent were unauthorized, so a majority of Hispanic immigrants reside here legally.

The study also reported that as of 2004, North Carolina Hispanics generated $1.2 billion of revenue in Raleigh and $780 million in Durham. 

In 2004, $817 million was reportedly spent on K-12 public education, health service delivery and corrections for North Carolina Hispanics — far less than what they contribute.

The effects of the proposed bill are too complicated and unknown among North Carolinians to have it be passed, especially in the four to six weeks left in the short session.

Even if the resolution is passed, the legislature has other serious issues to focus on, primarily budget cuts, and cannot give adequate attention to the law.