RALEIGH (AP) — A General Assembly committee set up to examine what North Carolina can do to crack down on illegal immigration is recommending no new legislative action other than urging the federal government to do more.
The state House committee on Thursday urged the federal government to better enforce border security everywhere, and for Washington to delegate more authority for states to enforce immigration laws. The committee’s co-chairman then met with Latino advocates to discuss their proposal for state drivers licenses to illegal immigrants who have lived in the country for years and who have clean criminal records.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates North Carolina ranks ninth in population among the states with what it calls 325,000 unauthorized immigrants, defined as foreign-born citizens of other countries who aren’t legal immigrants.