Sheriff B.J. Barnes Engaged in heated Exchange over 287 (g) Policy

by Kathleen Jordan

Apr. 2, 2009

On Monday March 30, 2009, roughly 300 concerned citizens of Guilford County met with Sheriff BJ Barnes to engage in a community dialogue regarding Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  Section 287 (g)“allows the performance of immigration officer functions by state officers and employees”, including being without valid legal immigration status. (http://www.ice.gov/doclib/pi/news/factsheets/060816dc287gfactsheet.pdf) The meeting was vigorous.  The exchange with Sheriff Barnes was sharp, respectful and revealing.

Rev. Nelson Johnson of the Beloved Community Center (BCC) said that “this is exactly the kind of discussion we should be having all over the county.  Johnson continued, “It is my personal view that the Sheriff should delay taking any action for at least six months to give the whole county sufficient time to engage in a real democratic process so that our citizens can be truly informed.  Some of us feel very strongly that the fear, division and underlying cultural prejudices built into this policy are morally wrong and a direction we don’t need to take as a county”. 

Several representatives from nearly 20 groups and organizations in the county and in the state were in attendance.  They represented a diverse body ranging from students and professors at local colleges and universities, to the National Farm Worker Association, the NAACP, The Pulpit Forum of Clergy and Vicinity of Greensboro, the Mecklenberg Justice Project, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church,  and the Human Relations Commission of Greensboro. In addition, there were over fifteen(15) pastors present representing African American, Latino and White congregations.

Rev. Dr. Mark Sills of Faith Action International opened the dialogue by sharing his thoughts on the negative implications of the Section 287 (g) program.  Faith Action International is a local non-profit that celebrates international diversity and is known for its work with immigrant communities.  Sills emphasized that Section 287 (g) is a program that will target the innocent for criminal activities.  He noted that counties across the United States have already built and are continuing to build detention facilities intended for incarcerating people, particularly immigrants.  Sills challenged those in attendance to ask questions of the Sheriff, local law enforcement agencies, and the government, such as, “In what ways are we going to ensure that non-criminals are not targeted for these crimes?  How are we going to make sure that by implementing this program we are promoting and not jeopardizing public safety”?

The Guilford County Coalition for Just Laws and Peace among Street Organizations presented a powerful video from a major Black/Brown Conference that took place in October of 2008.  The Conference was held at Genesis Baptist Church in Greensboro and sponsored by the Beloved Community Center and the Southern Faith, Labor, and Community Alliance to explore what would be required for the African-American and Latino community to build and sustain enduring relationships.  In the video, Rev. Dr. William Barber of the local NAACP, Rev. Dr. Carlton Eversley of Dellabrok Presbyterian Church, and Baldemar Velázquez of FLOC (Farm Labor Organizing Committee) expressed the detriment of isolating and criminalizing immigrant communities.  All three spoke to the hardships African-Americans suffered in slavery and through an oppressive Jim Crow system, and why the atrocity of dehumanization and the denial of civil and human rights should not and cannot be repeated in present times.

The thirteen minute video was followed by a question and answer session with Sheriff Barnes, facilitated by Rev. Nelson Johnson, Executive Director of the Beloved Community Center and Vice-President of the Pulpit Forum.  Participants asked the Sheriff questions such as, “Who determines whether or not 287 (g) will be implemented?  Do the citizens or the Sheriff determine this?  How does this program affect family life and the stability and education of children?  What is the line of questioning when someone is targeted for illegal crimes?  Under the guises of Section 287 (g) how does law enforcement determine whether someone is in the country legally or illegally and how does law enforcement avoid racial profiling and determining one’s ethnicity on face value?

Sheriff Barnes began his response by saying that the 287 (g) program that many of the dialogue participants are opposed to is perceptively different from the program he is proposing.  The Sheriff said that the “287 (g) program being adapted by Guilford County is a hybrid program”.  He said the purpose of this program is to allow the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department and local law enforcement to “do its job”.  When asked if he could stand with citizens in opposition to an unjust policy or program, he responded, “the problem with not doing 287 (g) is that it I didn’t do it, I would be cherry picking.  I would be deciding to enforce the law sometimes and not enforce it at other times.  I am not going to do that because if I do, I am guilty of malfeasance”.  

North Carolina A&T State University professor, minister, and local community activist Rev. Dr. Maria Palmer responded to the Sheriff’s statement by saying that he had the power to do something about 287 (g) because it is not currently a law but a policy.  Other participants questioned the Sheriff Departments capacity to avoid racial profiling.  The Sheriff described an incident of pulling a man over that he believed to be Latino and that was later identified as an illegal immigrant.   When questioned about how he was able to ethnically identify the man, he stated, “I could tell because of the kind of music he had going”. 

Many of the dialogue participants affirmed their collective dissent and opposition to Section 287 (g) and agreed to move forward to pursue further action that would challenge the policy.  Participants agreed that they would submit a petition calling upon Guilford County Commission and all the human relations commissions in the county to express their opposition to the 287 (g) policy.  The next meeting and planning session of the group will be held April 20, 2009, 6:30 PM at New Light Missionay Baptist Church 1105 Willow Road, Greensboro NC  27406; It is open to the public and all are urged to attend.The Guilford County Coalition for Just Laws and Peace among Street Organizations will work with other coalitions, group, and organizations in the city, and will also research actions taken in other counties across the nation regarding the 287 (g) policy.  Please visit www.belovedcommunitycenter.org in the next couple of weeks for more information about the upcoming Guilford County Commission Meeting and Community Dialogue.

Postscript:

Another meeting on 287(g) was held on Wednesday (April 2) at Iglesia Cristiana International (a predominately Latino Church) after the Monday (March 30) meeting at New Light Baptist (a predominately African American Church).  African Americans, Latinos, Whites, and people of many other ethnic groups were present at both meetings.   The Wednesday meeting at Iglesia, like the meeting at New Light, was very powerful. The questions and answer period was extremely sharp and informative. It revealed major contradictions in Sheriff Barnes’ 287(g) program.  Many of the people that attended New Light on Monday were at Iglesia on Wednesday.  The meetings complemented each other.  We at the Beloved Community Center applaud this example of building Black/Brown unity, a quality unity that promotes the common good of black, brown, white and all people of our county.

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