Illegal immigration is one of the most divisive and controversial issues that face Americans today and North Carolina is one of the top five states for immigrant-driven population growth. According to the Greensboro News and Record, many voters say that immigration will be an important issue in choosing the next U.S Senator.Democratic nominee Kay Hagan has vowed, if elected, to work towards a practical solution that addresses the issue of illegal immigration at its roots. She plans to do so by strengthening the borders, enforcing and upgrading laws that crackdown on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers and eliminating the shadow economy that drives down wages and working conditions.

Senator Elizabeth Dole is also calling for a crackdown on illegal immigration. In a press conference the senator emphasized her work with North Carolina sheriffs departments and the 287(g) program in helping identify and deport those living in the U.S. illegally. Once a federal issue, the program incorporates state and local law enforcement in federal immigration investigations.

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides the legal authority for state and local law enforcement to investigate, detain, and arrest aliens on civil and criminal grounds. The goal of this program is to start deportation proceedings on illegal immigrants who are arrested for non-immigration related offenses.

North Carolina is one of the leading states to participate in the 287(g) program. Five of the state’s 100 sheriff’s offices, in Alamance, Gaston, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, and Wake counties, as well as the Durham Police Department, have already signed up.

Within the first month, 321 inmates were brought before the 287(g) team of detention officers. Of those, 301 were ordered to be held for possible deportation. According to NBC17 News, all of them were charged with serious felonies, including five suspected of murder.

Immigration officers insist that the program is not aimed at deporting law abiding residents who may be undocumented.

“People are upset about going to hospitals and schools and seeing Hispanics. What they don’t understand is they think you can deport your way out of the situation,” said Jeremy McKinney, an immigration lawyer at McKinney & Justice law firm. “Of the 15 percent of the Hispanic population living in the United States, 60 percent are U.S. citizens and the remaining 40 percent are split in half.”

One of McKinney’s clients was held in jail for six weeks before he was able to prove that the man was a U.S citizen. According to McKinney, his client was detained because the police officer misunderstood the 2,500 pages of statutes and regulations that would be impossible to learn in the mere four weeks of 287(g) training required.

“Bringing in local police officers who don’t understand complex immigration law is problematic,” said McKinney. “Federally trained officers should be enforcing our immigration laws and sheriffs should be protecting our streets.”

In spite of Dole’s support to increase federal funding, the majority of the responsibility to fund the program has been placed on the state. In 2007, the state legislature gave the N.C. Sheriff’s Association $750,000 to pay for additional support for the 287(g) program.

Hagan supports a program that helps sheriff’s deputies’ work on immigration but criticizes the cost to the state.

“The 287(g) program uses local funding to solve a federal problem-one that Congress, including (Dole), has failed to fix,” said Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan, according to the News and Observer.

Since N.C sheriff’s departments have begun implementing this program, “illegal immigrants are being deported like never before,” said Dole at a press conference. “If they’re thinking of coming to North Carolina to commit crimes, they darn well better not do it because we’re going to catch them.”

“With Dole’s support, about 500 illegal immigrants a month are now being deported with the help of North Carolina’s local law enforcement,” said the News and Observer.

According to McKinney between July 2007 and March 2008, 60 percent of 287(g) arrests in Alamance County were for traffic tickets and non-violent crimes.

“The way the program is enforced allows for racial profiling and makes it illegal for immigrants to drive. 287(g) is perpetuating a myth that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes; it’s a myth that every 50 years or so switches the race it’s directed towards,” said McKinney.

Senior Nina Jinks spent the past summer interning for Lutheran Family Services working with immigrant and refugee resettlement. Working with mostly legal immigrants and refugees, Jinks believes that being arrested by police for minor offenses such as expired license plates can give immigrants future difficulties.

According to McKinney, in order to truly tackle the issue of illegal immigration Congress should focus on strengthening our borders, but he emphasizes that there can never be a secure border without a realistic number of visas available.

“The congressional election this year is even more important than the presidential, as there is little difference between the presidential candidates’ immigration policies,” said McKinney. “It’s been the Congress and people like Senator Dole who are allowing for ineffective programs like 287(g) to continue.