Rationale:  Many illegal immigrants live together in one apartment or house to help save money.  Cities and Towns in the Charlotte, NC region continue to balance the need to protect their citizens through fire and safety issues, while supporting neighborhoods and property values to maintain an adequate tax base.  By supporting and enforcing fire and housing safety codes that limit the number of people in a dwelling or housing unit, cities and towns can assure citizens' safety; help stabilize and enhance neighborhoods; and encourage property owners to increase their property values.

Rationale:  The ability of local law enforcement agencies to determine immigration status and track arrestees through database systems will help local District Attorneys to prosecute criminals to the full extent of the law, on all relevant charges.  It also helps law enforcement to know the true identity of whom they are dealing with. 

Recommendation Alternative - There was not consensus by the Commission for this recommendation.  One alternative view is that this policy recommendation could result in capturing undocumented immigrants that, for the most part, are workers contributing to the local economy and are not felonious criminals.  This recommendation could lead to profiling and distrust of local police. Given that the current criminal justice system is overloaded, law enforcement should focus on addressing serious crime and not immigration violations that only lead to increased taxpayer expenses.  There is also concern that the criminal justice system is slow to adjudicate and that oftentimes the illegal immigrants that are in jail are not able to support their families, including their spouse and children who are often U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.  This policy recommendation should be linked to comprehensive immigration reform that leads to illegal immigrants being able to obtain legal status and the two should be considered in tandem, but one should not proceed without the other.

Rationale:  The majority of immigration cases processed at the federal Immigration Court office in Atlanta, GA are from the State of North Carolina, comprising approximately 60% of the caseload at the Atlanta Court.  The benefits of having a federal Immigration Court in Charlotte would include a decrease in the number of "Failure to Appear" notices due to the transportation time and cost barriers to travel to Atlanta from Charlotte and other places in North Carolina.  Immigration cases could be processed quicker through the deduction in the amount of cases being heard by one court for all the cases in the Southeast.

Rationale:  The Mecklenburg County Jail Central is presently overcrowded.  The facility was expanded in 2001, and doubled its capacity, to where it presently houses 1,904 inmates.  Presently 15% of the Mecklenburg County jail inmates are illegal immigrants held for criminal offenses.  

Rationale:  Oftentimes, illegal aliens who commit local and state crimes are deported (removed) without being prosecuted or as a mechanism to get out of incarceration once they have been adjudicated.  District Attorneys should be encouraged to prosecute all illegal immigrants who commit crimes and then request deportation (removal) proceedings after the criminal has served their time.

Rationale:  Presently, a first time Driving While Intoxicated offense is a misdemeanor offense and not subject to deportation (removal) proceedings, if committed by an illegal immigrant. 

Recommendation Alternative - The Study Commission did not achieve consensus on this recommendation.  While the Commission does support tough drunk driving laws, a proposed bill known as the "Scott Gardner Act" is viewed as being too broad, as it proposes new grounds for deportability for any immigrant (legal or illegal) who is either convicted of driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence, or similar violation of State law (as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security), or refuses in violation of State law to submit to a breathalyzer test.  Under existing federal law, and under the 287 (g) program discussed previously, individuals who are illegally present in the US and who are arrested for DWI are being identified by ICE for deportation, but this proposed legislation could greatly impact those legally on the path to citizenship, with legal status who refuse to take a breathalyzer test.

Rationale:  Gang affiliation in Charlotte and North Carolina is increasing, particularly among gangs that recruit foreign-born members or certain nationalities.  Presently there are 1,800 known gang members in Charlotte affiliated with 100 known gangs.  Of those 100 gangs, five specifically recruit Latino/Hispanic nationalities.  Two of the gangs operating in Charlotte also have operations in the country of El Salvador.  To better track gang issues and membership, law enforcement is recommended to use the GangNET, or similar program, to track gang activities.

Rationale:  Law enforcement agencies throughout the Charlotte-region and North Carolina need to have a better understanding of immigration issues and how the federal immigration enforcement program operates, from interacting with illegal immigrant victims and criminals to partnering with the federal government in immigration enforcement.

Rationale:  The ability to communicate with all residents during the time of an emergency is critical to addressing or resolving the emergency.  Oftentimes first responders who are not fluent in another language besides English interact with non-English speakers and are unable to address the emergency because of the language barrier.