Agenda - 04-18-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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14 1 Mattie Hayes, Refugee Community Partnership, said it is free to non-profits, and once 2 the license is acquired, it is up to the non-profit to custom code it to be able to be formatted and 3 organized with features that can house the data it needs to. She said the requested funding 4 would go towards the custom coding. 5 6 PUBLIC COMMENT 7 Riley Ruske said he is a veteran and taxpayer in Orange County, and he is totally 8 opposed to this action to use County funds to aid and abet foreign nationals. He said the 9 populations that will be served are "undocumented immigrants," and he said by their own 10 actions they are criminals. He said illegal immigrants rob citizens of jobs, education, 11 healthcare, etc. He said harboring, sheltering and shielding foreign nationals of illegal presence 12 are a federal crime, and aiding and abetting illegal activities are federal and state crimes. He 13 said if the Board of County Commissioners approves this item, it is violating laws and he 14 petitioned the Board of County Commissioners to not provide these funds for illegal activities. 15 Riley Ruske referred to the letter of support from the Sheriff, and he said the Sheriff's 16 primary responsibility is the enforcement of the law. He said it would be a gross dereliction of 17 duties if the Sheriff is aware of illegal activities and refuses to act. 18 Carol McCanna said our country is a melting pot, but there must be legal control over 19 the people who enter this country. She said a country can have and should monitor its borders. 20 She asked if there could be clarification on the proposals before the BOCC this evening, 21 especially regarding criminal acts committed by an illegal immigrant on a US citizen. She said 22 words have meanings, and we do have laws and should not be abetting illegal immigration. 23 She said immigrants are a part of this country, but they must come here legally. 24 Maria Palmer said she is here to support these organizations and this expenditure. She 25 said she has experience working with immigrants and their children. She said these 26 organizations support many wonderful people, many of whom have never knowingly broken the 27 law; especially children who were brought here as infants, and have no knowledge of their 28 home culture. 29 Heather Brutz said she had family that fled the Nazis, and we should be welcoming to 30 immigrants. 31 Ken Rothrock said he has lived in Orange County since 1980, and has practiced law for 32 36 years. He said this is nutty, and those that commit crime should have consequences. He 33 said spending taxpayer money to support those who are coming here illegally is not right. He 34 said there are rules, and if the BOCC starts passing these kinds of decisions then they will be 35 addressed in the elections in two years. He said many are waiting to come to America in the 36 right way, and these are the people the County should be looking to help. 37 Commissioner McKee said he is reading this proposal, and it is not addressing 38 undocumented residents. He said some undocumented may be included, and he asked the 39 agencies if they could address this question. 40 Flicka Bateman, Refugee Support Center, said refugees are legal, and they have 41 papers called I-94s. She said there are about 1,200 refugees in Orange County, and most of 42 these are from Burma. She said there are also 32 Syrians and about 50 from the Congo. 43 Commissioner McKee asked if the refugees are documented. 44 Flicka Bateman said refugees are legal. 45 Commissioner McKee asked John Roberts if this abstract violates any state or federal 46 law. 47 John Roberts said the County is prohibited from having a policy, procedure, or 48 ordinance in place that restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws. 49 Commissioner McKee said he has hired migrants and those from other countries, and 50 some of their papers are so good it is hard to tell if they are fake. He said he has hired many