Noting that North Carolina is right behind Arizona in the number of ‘unauthorized immigrants,’ N&R editor John Robinson is surprised that the crowd at Saturday’s May Day/ pro-illegal immigrant rally in Greensboro.
I guess that’s because the majority of North Carolinians don’t feel the way the 200-plus people attending the rally feel:
But critics, like many who attended Saturday’s downtown rally, contend it encourages racial profiling and is unconstitutional. Some said they had fears of the law spreading to other states nationwide.
“There are people in our own state that would like to see a law like that (here),” said Mark Sills, director of Greensboro’s FaithAction International House.
“When a segment of your population fears the police, all you have done is created a huge threat to public safety.”
Sills said it makes a police officer’s job more difficult because illegal immigrants would no longer trust authorities.
That could make the illegal immigrants more prone to being targeted by criminals, because they would be less likely to report the crime over fear of deportation.
“All this legislation does is create fear and division. It solves nothing,” Sills said.
Meanwhile, Leonard Pitts —- appearing in today’s N&R —-compliments George W.Bush’s attempt at immigration reform. You read that right.
