Recent comments by Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell have prompted a barrage of complaints from immigrant advocacy groups.

In the Sunday edition of The News & Observer last week, Sheriff Bizzell called Mexican's "trashy."

And he said Latino Immigrants in Johnston County were "breeding like rabbits."

Leaders of some of those groups were part of a forum at UNC-Chapel Hill. People calling for a crack down on illegal immigrants will be hosting an event later in the week.

About 50 people attended the forum at the UNC Law School. Among the panelists was the legal director of the ACLU.

Katherine Parker says they have recently been in contact with the Johnston County Sheriff Department's attorney about their request for reams of documents.

“When we spoke on Monday, he certainly gave me the impression that the sheriff's office wants to be as open as possible,” Parker said.

The ACLU plans to scour the documents for evidence of racial profiling.

“When a public official makes comments that are that racially inflammatory it makes us think, 'lets make sure there is not a problem as far as, are they putting these sorts of ideas into practice,'” Parker said.

This forum was put together by law students at UNC who were shocked when they read the story in The News & Observer.

“I think that's one of the purposes of this forum is also to understand where this rhetoric is coming from and what exactly is going on in North Carolina to spur this,” said Vanessa Hernandez , a student in UNC's law school.

This Friday, opponents of illegal immigration are also hosting an event.

Ron Woodard, the head of NC Listen, an Immigration reform organization, said they hope to educate people about what local governments can legally do to clamp down on illegal immigration.

“They can decide to be part of the problem by continuing to do nothing, or they can become part of the solution by helping the federal government,” Ron Woodard said.

As head of NC Listen, Woodard said he too was surprised by Sheriff Bizzell's comments in the paper.

“His comments were just totally inappropriate and do nothing for this issue,” Woodard said.

The event is also co-sponsored by the Civitas Institute. It will be held at the Sheraton Hotel at RTP on Friday.