A Montgomery County immigrant advocacy group met Thursday to discuss ways to respond to immigration raids as communities across the country crack down on illegal immigrants.
The meeting, sponsored by CASA of Maryland, comes three months after the group distributed a controversial pamphlet spelling out the rights of people confronted by immigration authorities.
Local anti-illegal immigration activists said they believed the pamphlet promoted illegal behavior, which they called offensive because CASA receives county funding. The pamphlet advises people not to provide government officials with information about immigration status and not to use false documents.
CASA officials denied access to an Examiner reporter who tried to attend the Thursday meeting. They also declined to return calls for comment on the meeting. The advocacy group receives more than $2.2 million in county funds for English-language classes, management of day labor centers, health care and other work.
County spokesman Patrick Lacefield said he was unaware of county funds being used for meetings about raids. Lacefield also said no county money was spent on the earlier “Protect yourself from immigration raids!” pamphlets.
“Just because CASA is involved in advocacy doesn’t mean they can’t get support for service delivery projects that they are involved in,” Lacefield said. “There are agencies that get money from us that don’t rely on our funding for everything they do.”
Day laborers looking for work at a gas station in Silver Spring said it was a time of crisis for undocumented workers.
“It has been a month since most of us here without papers have had work,” Jose Morales, 28, said in Spanish. “More employers than before are asking for papers because they worry about getting in trouble, too. Of course there is fear. Nobody wants to be deported, but our choice is between hiding at home or trying to findwork.”
Montgomery County officials said Thursday that local governments are caught in the middle of the debate over federal immigration policy.
