Haven’t seen this reported elsewhere, but the Triad’s Yes weekly spurred Mayor Pat McCrory to paint a vivid picture of CMPD doing battle with illegal immigrants and MS-13:

In discussing gangs, he made a connection between illegal immigration and criminality, and demonstrated a cognizance of recent events in the Triad.

“We have a serious gang problem right here in Greensboro,” he said. “You also have international gangs. In Charlotte we had a shootout with an El Salvadoran gang, all illegal immigrants. Let me repeat, all illegal immigrants. And thank God, they missed and our police didn’t.”

McCrory must be referring to the late February raid that involved gunplay and a SWAT team. However, at the time a CMPD release said that only 11 of the 12 were illegal, according to ICE.

More Mayor Pat on immigration:

Later I asked McCrory if he agreed with the five leading candidates — Democrats Perdue and Moore; and Republicans Fred Smith, Bill Graham and Bob Orr — that undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to attend North Carolina community colleges.

He clearly is: “I am opposed to it. They’re illegal.”

I took the question a step further and asked if he also would be in favor of denying undocumented immigrants access to emergency rooms, and the mayor drew a distinction.

“I believe in helping people for their health and safety,” he said. “I would not deny anybody help for their health and safety.”

Well, you could argue — and many do — that the primary reason that illegals are even in the country is to help their own health and safety. This gets us back to the whole damn poultry plant “scandal” — there would not be a steady stream of labor willing to work in those plants were they not a step up from the alternatives available in a country of origin.

I’ve been listening to Pat McCrory on illegal immigration for years and everyday I learn something new.

Bonus Observation: Former Supreme Court justice Bob Orr is not happy with the pass McCrory has been getting on taking de facto credit for Jim Pendergraph’s enforcement of immigration laws at the Mecklenburg County jail or the city of Charlotte’s track record on hiring illegals. If I remember Pat’s rap on the hiring thing correctly, everybody does it and there is nothing the city can do about it.

Update: Yep, pointing out what Pat said in 2006 is an “unwarranted attack.” How in the world is this guy gonna stand up to the Down East kleptocracy? They’ll knife Pat once and he’ll never be heard from again.