Town asked to help illegal immigrant
Published: Wed, Feb. 28, 2007 12:00AM
Modified Wed, Feb. 28, 2007 07:02AM
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closeCHAPEL HILL -- Peggy Misch, founder of the Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee, has asked the town to change its policy toward illegal immigrants and pay legal costs for Sima Fallahi, an Iranian immigrant arrested in December after Chapel Hill police discovered that she faced a federal deportation order.
Police had checked a federal database when Fallahi applied for a permit to sell art in Chapel Hill.
"If you want me to be blunt, there was a mistake made, and now she is under federal detention," Misch told the Town Council Monday night.
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Misch asked the council to direct police to arrest an illegal immigrant "only when such person is known to have committed a criminal felony violation."
Fallahi's violation was civil. She has already spent more than $7,600 on legal fees seeking political asylum in the United States, her supporters say. Misch asked the council to make a "significant contribution" toward those costs.
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