When President Barack Obama toured North Carolina this week, he received support from local students — but he also encountered criticism from pro-immigrant rights activists.
Obama visited several cities in North Carolina, including Boone, before heading to Virginia for the last leg of his three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act.
His North Carolina tour coincided with a day-long event in Charlotte called “Obama, Immigration and the Latino Community.”
The event, which took place in nine other cities nationwide, was promoted by Presente.org, a national organization that promotes the political voice of Latino communities.
The Charlotte protestors, mainly high-school and college students, met to discuss Obama’s immigration policies — an area they say the president needs to improve. Otherwise, members say, the president won’t be getting their vote.
Event attendees also planned future protests following a viewing of the PBS documentary “Lost in Detention,” which details the president’s immigration policies.
“The issues of immigrant and Latino imprisonment that are exposed in ‘Lost in Detention’ will surely be a major concern in the upcoming elections,” said Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org, in a press release.
“Latino families throughout the United States are deeply concerned with such reports because they expose the extremism that lies at the heart of President Obama’s (Secure Communities) program, detention policies and other immigration policies.”
Melissa Brooke Siegel, an organizer of the event, said one of the group’s main goals is to promote equal access to education.
