News
In a town that’s nearly 90 percent white, a Grass Valley City Council candidate still is making illegal immigration a campaign issue.
Ed Yarborough this week has hung handmade fliers on doors with the warning “It could happen here.” The word “here” is underlined by hand in red ink.
“Grass Valley is becoming a de facto sanctuary city for illegal aliens!” it reads, after noting the presence of Spanish-speakers seeking help at Nevada County Social Services.
Yarborough is proposing that Grass Valley police officers arrest illegal immigrants and the city implement a law requiring anyone getting a business license to participate in the federal government’s E-Verify system.
After making other accusations in the flier about what he calls the “secretive” city council, Yarborough adds a postscript:
“P.P.P.S. Did I mention I’m a cat person?”
Yarborough outraged some city residents in late 2006 when he picketed St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and leafleted cars in the church parking lot, accusing the parish of harboring illegal immigrants. The church had recently started holding monthly Masses in Spanish, drawing about 150 people to the services.
At a time when Grass Valley faces a budget shortfall of $650,000, falling sales tax income and shrinking staffs, even in the police and fire departments, the city needs to focus on other issues, said some Grass Valley officials and civic leaders contacted about Yarborough’s claims.
But they were reluctant to go on the record. “It’s hard to take on these zealots who are so out of touch,” one person said.
Yarborough believes illegal immigration is a “growing issue,” however.
“I’ve lived here all my life, and until recently, it was unheard-of to hear Spanish spoken, but now every time I walk down the street, I hear it,” Yarborough said. “It’s pretty safe to assume that many of those Spanish-speakers probably are illegal aliens.”
Exactly 717 people of Latino or Spanish-speaking origin were counted in Grass Valley in the 2000 U.S. Census, making up 6 percent of the population of nearly 11,000 people, according to city documents.
That number doubled from the 1990 census, when 358 Latino or Hispanic people made up 4 percent of the population of about 9,000.
Three years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission outreach program estimated about 2,500 Spanish speakers lived in western Nevada County.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
Ed Yarborough this week has hung handmade fliers on doors with the warning “It could happen here.” The word “here” is underlined by hand in red ink.
“Grass Valley is becoming a de facto sanctuary city for illegal aliens!” it reads, after noting the presence of Spanish-speakers seeking help at Nevada County Social Services.
Yarborough is proposing that Grass Valley police officers arrest illegal immigrants and the city implement a law requiring anyone getting a business license to participate in the federal government’s E-Verify system.
After making other accusations in the flier about what he calls the “secretive” city council, Yarborough adds a postscript:
“P.P.P.S. Did I mention I’m a cat person?”
Yarborough outraged some city residents in late 2006 when he picketed St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and leafleted cars in the church parking lot, accusing the parish of harboring illegal immigrants. The church had recently started holding monthly Masses in Spanish, drawing about 150 people to the services.
At a time when Grass Valley faces a budget shortfall of $650,000, falling sales tax income and shrinking staffs, even in the police and fire departments, the city needs to focus on other issues, said some Grass Valley officials and civic leaders contacted about Yarborough’s claims.
But they were reluctant to go on the record. “It’s hard to take on these zealots who are so out of touch,” one person said.
Yarborough believes illegal immigration is a “growing issue,” however.
“I’ve lived here all my life, and until recently, it was unheard-of to hear Spanish spoken, but now every time I walk down the street, I hear it,” Yarborough said. “It’s pretty safe to assume that many of those Spanish-speakers probably are illegal aliens.”
Exactly 717 people of Latino or Spanish-speaking origin were counted in Grass Valley in the 2000 U.S. Census, making up 6 percent of the population of nearly 11,000 people, according to city documents.
That number doubled from the 1990 census, when 358 Latino or Hispanic people made up 4 percent of the population of about 9,000.
Three years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission outreach program estimated about 2,500 Spanish speakers lived in western Nevada County.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
