The event invited candidates from three major North Carolina House races in Mecklenburg County โ districts 99, 105 and 106.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ Voters will have the chance to question North Carolina House candidates on topics including immigration, affordable housing and LGBTQ+ rights at a forum beginning at 6:30 p.m. at UNC Charlotte’s Cone University Center.
Several organizations have teamed up to host the forum, which invited candidates from three major North Carolina House races in Mecklenburg County โ districts 99, 105 and 106. Organizers said the majority of candidates will attend, with immigration expected to take center stage.
“I’ve been in this country for 48 years,” Jose Hernandez-Paris, director of the Latin American Coalition, said. ย “I never thought that I would have to carry my passport to show that I’m a US citizen and be afraid of being sent, not back home, but being sent to El Salvador or Sudan or another country.”
Hernandez-Paris said he understands the fear the immigrant community in Charlotte is facing.
“I’m a citizen, and I can only imagine the fear others who only have a temporary status, or who may be undocumented, or who may be in a process, in an immigration process,” he said.
Hernandez-Paris said immigration has been a flashpoint in every recent election, but Border Patrol’s deployment in November is shaping both this election and his organization, which has had to add new locks and security protocols.
“Doorbells and things like that to secure clients and make sure that they feel safe, having protocols in case something happens,” Hernandez-Paris said. “We added those after Border Patrol came and realized that there’s no checks and balances any longer.”
The Latin American Coalition is one of several organizations joining the forum. Candidates will answer wide-ranging questions from affordable housing to LGBTQ+ rights to immigration enforcement.
Charlotte Pride, another partner organization, said it is focused on affordable housing, though every issue is crucial.
“Our folks tend to be a little bit underemployed and under-supported,” Charlotte Pride’s managing director Meredith Thompson said.
Thompson added that the issues are interconnected.
“Those issues are so intersectional, and whenever one minority community is attacked, really, we all are right, because we know that folks are just being scapegoated,” Thompson said.
Hernandez-Paris said the event is about inclusion above all.
“It’s about making sure that people that may feel threatened, that may feel that they’re being targeted right now have an opportunity to ask question,” Hernandez-Paris said.
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