Representing North Carolina’s Ninth District                                                                        

Myrick Announces Immigration Court Coming To North Carolina

            Rep. Myrick has been fighting to bring an immigration court to Charlotte for nearly eight years.  She has met with Department of Justice officials, written countless letters urging the DOJ to establish a court, and started a statewide petition drive to bring an immigration court to North Carolina.  

            “This is great news for our state!  We have been fighting to bring an immigration court to our area for some time, and now it’s going to be a reality,” said Rep. Myrick.  “An immigration court will speed up illegal alien deportations.  It will also help legal immigrants playing by the rules because they will no longer have to travel to Atlanta to deal with immigration matters.” 

Myrick also added, “This could not have been done without the support and hard work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Jeff Jordan and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph.”

            Looking for a location is the first step in the process of setting up the court.  Government officials will then work on staffing the court, which is tentatively scheduled to be operational prior to January 2008.

Additional Statistics used by Rep. Myrick when speaking to the Department of Justice regarding an immigration court:                                                  

North Carolina’s illegal alien population is estimated at 300,000 to 600,000.  This makes North Carolina home to the nation’s 8th largest population of illegal aliens.  Yet, of the ten states with the largest estimated populations of illegal aliens, North Carolina is the only one without an immigration court.  In addition, there are 16 other states with lower illegal alien populations, yet they have an immigration court.

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