By Bill Zeeble
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-703718.mp3
Dallas, TX – Members of the Tejano Democrats are in an Oak Cliff Mexican restaurant, meeting to support local Hispanic candidates. One is Rigo Reza, a former Irving city inspector, now instructor at North Lake College. He's running for Irving mayor. Irving grabbed national press for deporting more than 27-hundred illegal immigrants, mostly Hispanic, over the past year and a half. Those numbers prompted some at this meeting to say they must be drinking Hatorade in Irving. Reza says police have done a good job with the city's Criminal Alien Program, or CAP.
Rigo Reza, Irving Mayoral candidate: "But at the same time we must be careful not to violate anyone's rights, and also that we use it for 156/22 the main purpose, to apprehend and eliminate anyone in our community that are felons. As far as those committing misdemeanors or minor 34 infractions, we can deal with them locally."
Prolific use of the Criminal Alien Program prompted Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to cut back on deportations of minor violators, there were so many. Despite Irving's record-setting deportations though, another mayoral candidate, attorney Roland Jeter, wants even more.
Roland Jeter, attorney, Irving mayoral candidate: "Having been raised here and living here, I've seen the quality of life continue to spiral downward."
Jeter blames many of Irving's problems, from crime to neighborhood trash, on illegal immigrants. He's calls Irving a sanctuary city, one that's hands-off towards undocumented workers
Jeter: "When you see people standing on street corners waiting for jobs, when you see more and more of them being picked up by police, when you see that going on and that kind of activity, it is still a sanctuary city."
Irving incumbent Mayor Herbert Gears: "When my opponent Mr. Jeter says he knows Irving is a sanctuary city because he can drive around and look, I don't understand how you know a person is illegal by looking at them. That's a very, quite frankly, it's a racist remark."
That's incumbent Irving Mayor Herbert Gears, who calls Jeter's allegations nutty. He says the fact that Irving leads the nation in illegal immigrant deportations makes the town anything BUT a sanctuary city. That hasn't' stopped some Jeter supporters, like 26-year residents Doug and Sue Harper, from volunteering for their candidate.
Sue Harper, Jeter volunteer: "I don't feel safe in our city anymore, not like I used to.
Doug Harper: "Over the years it has changed from middle-class America to almost a 3rd world country."
Gears rejects those charges just by citing the facts.
Gears: "We've implemented about a dozen programs that have brought crime rates down to the lowest in the history of Irving. Even in the first 3 months of the year we've seen another 10 percent drop in crime."
Gears says he'll win Saturday, assuming a decent turnout, and will keep Irving moving forward with public safety efforts and business projects. Jeter says he expects to win. And so does Reza.
Bill Zeeble KERA news.