A group of Democratic lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly condemned the violent actions of federal immigration agents in Minnesota and other states. Their statement noted that those operations have left at least two U.S. citizens dead and hundreds of immigrants detained, including children.
“Across North Carolina, people are standing up and speaking out against the heinous actions being perpetrated against fellow Americans, against legal immigrants, against innocent children and against ourselves,” Renée Price, D-Orange County, said at a news conference.
“We are witnessing masked men abduct women, men and children from the streets without due process to send them to detention centers and deport them. In addition, government agents murder fellow Americans in cold blood,” he added.
Price also questioned the Republican majority in the Legislature for refusing to hear two bills introduced by democrats last year to ban immigration agents from schools, churches and hospitals, as well as construction sites and agricultural fields.
“The federal government, along with its partners at the state level, is at war with its own people, the American people, and those who reside and work alongside us,” Price said. “Now is our time, the time to take a stand, to stand against cowardice, injustice, and to remove ICE and CBP agents from our cities and counties and thus put an end to this domestic terrorism.”
Durham Rep. Marcia Morey also questioned the federal anti-immigrant campaign and questioned her local Republican colleagues for their inaction to pass the state budget.
“What we are witnessing today is cruelty, cruelty on the part of our government,” Morey said. “But cruelty can also be inaction, which is exactly what’s happening here in our state, North Carolina: inaction to do a budget.”
“Because we didn’t pass a budget, people are suffering. Medical care is tripling. For some families, wages are falling, prices are rising. Energy costs after this storm… Wait until you get your electricity bill. We’re not doing anything to help our teachers, the lowest paid in the country, or our state employees. We are in crisis,” she added.
As part of the press conferences was also Reverend William J. Barber, who led a vigil for justice at the General Assembly.
Last week, the House Progressive Caucus, made up of 11 Democrats, including Price and Morey, issued a statement in which they called on the federal government to cease the violent repression against immigrants and advocated for humane, just and peaceful immigration policies.
