NC sheriff apologizes for immigrant comments

SMITHFIELD, N.C. — A North Carolina sheriff is apologizing for comments he made to a newspaper about illegal immigrants in an article about the growing Hispanic population in his county.

Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell issued the apology after The News & Observer of Raleigh printed comments in a Sunday article. The newspaper reported the sheriff criticized immigrants as “trashy” and said they were “breeding like rabbits.”

Bizzell said it wasn’t his intention to make broad statements that reflected on legal and law-abiding Hispanics.

But the apology wasn’t enough for a Hispanic advocate. Tony Asion is executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group El Pueblo and said the comments made him so angry he had to stop reading the article.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)