NC bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE advances

Lina PortmanMay 31, 2024

0 4 minutes read

Although North Carolina is not a border state, the Republican-led General Assembly is working to create a state law that would require all sheriffs to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of House Bill 10. The controversial bill, if passed, would take effect just months before North Carolinians go to the polls for November's presidential election.

The bill, in essence, would require sheriffs to report and cooperate with ICE when they cannot determine whether an imprisoned person is a legal resident of the United States. The arrested person could be detained for up to 48 hours.

So far, some North Carolina sheriffs, including Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe, are not cooperating with ICE and do not support the bill.

The bill's lead sponsor, Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, Watauga, said the lack of cooperation from sheriffs is why this bill, originally introduced last January, is needed. He called the bill “common sense” and pleaded with committee members in April to support it after citing the safety of officers and North Carolinians as a concern.

This bill would only apply to people incarcerated for the following crimes: felonies, Class A1 misdemeanors, which could include assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse, sexual assault, and violations of a “protection order,” according to the bill.

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Immigration legislation in a non-border state

Although North Carolina is more than 1,000 miles from its closest border state, Texas, it has a large immigrant population, which has increased significantly over the past 30 years.

North Carolina's percentage of immigrants increased from 2% in 1990 to 8% in 2024, with most coming from Latin America or Asia, according to a report by North Carolina state demographer Michael Cline .

Rick Su, an immigration attorney and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has worked at the intersection of immigration and local and state governments for about 15 years.

The growing immigrant population, the General Assembly's large Republican majority that has veto power over the Democratic governor and the looming elections could all be factors in remaking HB 10, said Su.

Part of the topic's influence on voters has to do with the persuasive and fear-inducing rhetoric that is often used, Su said.

Words like “invasion” and messages about the country’s security and identity “proved that they really resonated,” Su said.

He said that before the mid-2000s, it was unique for state and local governments to be involved in immigration, but fear of immigrants has always been part of American politics.

“The fact that we're talking about this with North Carolina politics and the local sheriffs, that's pretty new, but the fact that xenophobia kind of motivates, you know, in every era of American politics.” is not, Su said.

Not only has the percentage of immigrants in North Carolina increased, but it's also a presidential election year, Su said, and immigration has proven to be a major issue.

It's possible, he said, that Republican lawmakers in North Carolina expect Trump to win re-election and want to be ready when he asks, “Where are my state aides?” » »

Effects on the Latino community

Some fear that when the bill is implemented, it will disproportionately affect the Latino population due to racial stereotypes.

“It’s very likely that they’re basically relying on stereotypes and racial profiling,” Su said.

This bill is an attack on a community that significantly supports the Tar Heel State through work and taxes, said Kelly Morales, co-director of Siembra NC, a nonprofit organization working to support economic and political justice for Latinos.

What “we do know is that the North Carolina GOP has used bills like HB 10 to sow fear in the community about neighboring immigrant families,” Morales said.

It's a ploy to get Republicans to the polls this year, she continued.

“They are trying to bring us closer to the border,” Morales said. “Right. We see the Republican Party using the border to try to gain votes.”

Support for legislation based on security concerns

Despite strong backlash from Democrats and community advocates, some North Carolina sheriffs and politicians remain supportive of tougher immigration laws.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said during a committee meeting that he supports the bill “100 percent.”

“This is about protecting America,” Page said. “It’s about protecting our state, it’s about protecting our citizens.”

His concerns about security are echoed by national politicians like Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who has made several remarks about the security threat he believes immigrants pose, even saying that immigrants “are poisoning the blood.” .

Although fear of immigrant crime has been at the center of the 2024 presidential election and American politics in general, the Marshall Project reported in 2019 that the increase in the undocumented immigrant population does not is not correlated with an increase in violent crime.

Questions about the constitutionality of the bill

Sheriffs and attorneys have expressed concern about the legal and financial burden this could place on sheriffs.

Detaining someone for ICE after release conditions under state law have been met could be unconstitutional, said Sejal Zota, an attorney and co-founder of Just Futures Law.

The state's requirement could conflict with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Hall, the bill's sponsor, addressed that concern during a committee meeting, citing that sheriffs would not be held accountable.

“No State or local law enforcement officer or agency shall incur criminal or civil liability for actions taken pursuant to an order issued under paragraph (b1) of this section.” , according to section 1 b3 of the bill.

Additionally, the cost of detaining a person for ICE would fall on the county, not the federal government. An amendment was suggested to fund this concern, but it was tabled, according to a report from NC Newsline.

Lina Portman

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