GRAHAM — State and federal officials said they found no wrongdoing in an investigation of the Alamance County health department.
In the report, made public Monday night at an Alamance County commissioners meeting, investigators with the State Bureau of Investigation and the federal department of Health and Human Services concluded that the county's medical director, Dr. Kathleen Shapley-Quinn, and nurse practitioner Karen Saxer committed no crimes in writing work notes for several Hispanic clients.
The probe focused on five people who had received work notes. None received prescriptions and none received services they weren't entitled to, said Maj. Tim Britt of the Alamance County Sheriff's Office.
One of the five, Maria Sanchez, of Swepsonville, was processed for deportation after Veronica Arias, a woman in Texas, reported that a woman from Swepsonville had stolen her identity. Sanchez, Britt said, used Arias' birth date and Social Security number.
The report also concluded that the health department, as well as the county's Department of Social Services, was forced to follow conflicting directives from state and federal officials regarding the release of information about illegal immigrants.
Some policies prohibit the release of such information or even inquiring about it. Other directives require employees to provide information to criminal investigators, Britt said.
The report came just hours after Rob Johnson, the county's district attorney, said he won't file charges against Shapley-Quinn and Saxer, who have been on paid administrative leave for two months.
More than 175 people packed Monday night's commissioners meeting. Anticipating a large crowd, county officials moved the gathering to a courtroom in the County Building. The room still wasn't big enough for an overflow crowd and the horde of reporters.
Sheriff Terry Johnson followed the presentation by urging the commissioners to find a solution to the conflicting instructions and do what they can to "meet our citizen's medical and financial needs."
"What has happened to our country, our state and our county when a government employee cannot report a felony crime," Johnson continued. "This is absurd and goes against the very moral fiber that our country was founded upon."
Johnson also responded to his numerous critics, especially regarding 287(g), the program from Homeland Security that gives local officers federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement powers.
Johnson insisted that his department doesn't profile Hispanics and remained adamant that he will enforce all the laws, despite detractors who remind the sheriff of his earlier promises to process through 287(g) only those committing felonies.
"If you want to come here illegally and live in this country, do not violate any laws," the sheriff said.
If residents want something different, he added, they should either work to change the laws or vote him out of office.
"But as long as I'm sheriff, I am going to do my job, commissioners. And the only thing that you can do is cut my budget." Johnson said Commissioner Chairman Larry Sharpe "had gotten people stirred up by saying the sheriff's office profiles."
During the Aug. 4 commissioners' meeting, Sharpe said he thought the program was "out of control" in the county.
Sharpe stood by his earlier comments Monday. "You've given your report. Now you're starting to editorialize."
Earlier, Jared Hanson, the pastor at Fairview United Methodist Church north of Elon shared his concerns about 287(g).
"The number and diversity of people who are extremely bothered by the facts and the perception of the implementation of 287(g) is vast and quickly gaining momentum nationally and locally."
He and others worry that 287(g) is creating "undue fear, anxiety and distress that will create greater divisions in our communities ..." Hanson appealed to the Alamance County Board of Commissioners "to re-evaluate the humanitarian, the moral and spiritual implications of programs like to 287(g)."
Other speakers Monday night supported the sheriff and detailed crimes and other problems they said illegal immigrants are causing.
See something that needs to be updated?