Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />A Resolution Opposing the Use of Local Law Enforcement <br />to Enforce Civil Immigration Law and Policy <br />WHEREAS, Orange County is committed to the human and civil rights of its residents <br />and to actions that preserve and protect those rights; and <br />WHEREAS, Orange County is home to a diverse population, including people of color, <br />documented and undocumented immigrants, citizens and non-citizens, whose <br />contributions to the community are vital to its character and function; and <br />WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners is committed to upholding the civil rights of all <br />persons in Orange County and the enjoyment of any and all rights and privileges secured <br />by the constitutions and the laws of the United States, the State of North Carolina, and <br />Orange County; and <br />WHEREAS, actions taken by the federal, state and local governments, including the <br />adoption of sections of Senate Bill 1523, otherwise known as the North Carolina General <br />Assembly's 2006 Technical Corrections Bill, now threaten the rights and freedoms of <br />portions of Orange County's population; and <br />WHEREAS, Senate Bill 1523 permits local government to enter into a memorandum of <br />agreement with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs <br />Enforcement to have law enforcement deputized to enforce civil immigration law and <br />policy; and <br />WHEREAS, three (3) local governments, Mecklenberg, Alamance and Buncombe <br />Counties, have chosen to enter into these voluntary memoranda; and <br />WHEREAS, jurisdictions that have entered into these memoranda of agreement have <br />experienced increased violence against Latino/Hispanic communities and increased <br />incidents of reported racial profiling against people of color communities; and <br />WHEREAS, Orange County government upholds the Constitution of the United States <br />and federal and state laws and does not stand in defiance of those laws. <br />NOW, THEREFORE, the Orange County Board of Commissioners does hereby resolve: <br />Section 1. That we commit not to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Homeland <br />Security to enforce immigration laws or take any other action that might result in racial profiling <br />or create a climate of fear and hostility for any community in the County. <br />Section 2. That we encourage Orange County municipal governments to refuse to enter into <br />memoranda of agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration <br />laws.