Immigration Debate Heats Up In Charlotte

The debate is heating up in Charlotte over whether North Carolina needs an immigration law like Arizona's.

For more information on Arizona’s immigration law, click here.

For more information on the Birthright Citizenship Act, click here.

Three Republicans -- Jim Pendergraph, Corey Thompson and Dan Ramirez -- running for the Mecklenburg County Commission at-large held a news conference about the issue on Friday afternoon. They said they want North Carolina to follow Arizona’s lead.

“If you're legally residing in this country, I don't see you have to fear anything,” Ramirez said.

But for others, the issue centers on civil liberties.

Hector Vaca, who was born in the U.S., said he’s concerned about profiling, noting that he’s been the subject of it before.

“I've been part of police stops where they looked through every single windshield and, when they got as far as my windshield, I was the one car they stopped,” Vaca said.

It’s difficult to find reliable numbers on the number of illegal immigrants in Mecklenburg County. Census officials don't track that data, and neither does Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

One county commissioner, Bill James, said a study estimates as many as 70 percent of the children in the free and reduced-price lunch program are in the country illegally.

The Department of Social Services doesn't record that statistic, either. The department requires Social Security numbers, but there’s no definite verification of that.

The sheriff's office comes closest to keeping track. Jailers said they have identified more than 9,000 inmates for deportation in the last four years.

Previous Stories: July 30, 2010: Charlotte Protesters Rally Against Arizona Immigration Law