RALEIGH – Lumberton’s resident state senator and his Republican colleagues have enacted legislation requiring North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials outside the Senate on Thursday.
Senate bill 101 requires sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in dealing with alleged illegal immigrants already in prison for committing a violent crime who have requests for detention from the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs, or ICE. The legislation was passed on party lines after a heated debate that touched on race and ethnicity. The legislation now goes to the Chamber.
Two years ago, the legislature passed a broader measure to require sanctuary cities to honor ICE’s requests for detention for all offenders. Governor Roy Cooper vetoed that bill.
Both projects were motivated by Republican lawmakers irritated by the refusal of first-term Democratic sheriffs in several urban counties to work closely with the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs to identify and detain defendants believed to be illegally in the country. The sheriffs’ decisions, according to the Republicans, have led violent criminals to freedom and caused further damage.
“There are very recent examples here in North Carolina of the danger that sanctuary city policies pose. For example, the ICE had to illegally pursue a child sex offender here after the Mecklenburg county sheriff rejected an ICE arrest warrant and released the offender from custody, ”said Senator Danny Britt Jr. of Lumberton.
Senate Bill 101 only requires sanctuary cities to cooperate with ICE for violent offenders arrested for murder, rape and other sexual crimes, gang-related crimes, human trafficking, drug trafficking or assault.
Still, all Democrats voted against the bill.
“I cannot understand how anyone could support the protection of an illegal immigrant who rapes or kills a North American. Removing violent criminals who are here illegally should be a unanimous priority, ”said Sen. Chuck Edwards, R-Henderson.
Reasonable immigration laws have once been a shared priority between Republicans and Democrats, said Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico.
“Not long ago, now President Biden opposed sanctuary cities and American Senator Chuck Schumer voted to build a wall on the southern border, said Sanderson. “Now, the Democratic Party’s agenda supports protection against the deportation of murderers and rapists.”
The sanctuary cities in North Carolina have argued that ICE holders are not legitimate warrants and local officials are not required to enforce federal laws. Senate Bill 101 addresses these concerns by requiring prisoners with a pending ICE holder to appear before a judge, who could then issue a warrant. This alleviates the concerns of sanctuary cities because local law enforcement must follow the determination of a magistrate judge.
“It is unfortunate that we are at a point where we elect police officers who simply refuse to comply with their oaths of office and (who) choose which laws to apply,” said Edwards, a sponsor of the bill, in the Senate speaking ahead of the 27th vote. -20.
His decisions are potentially “freeing the most violent criminals back on the streets,” said Edwards.
Sheriffs called by law say they follow what state law currently requires in seeking the legal status of an inmate, and that the current proposal goes too far. Together with defenders of immigrants, they also argue that the move would discourage immigrants from contacting the police about crimes for fear of deportation. And they noted that, according to the bill, suspects can be taken by ICE before being tried in the state court.
“What kind of dignity is this for the victims?” asked Democratic Senator Mujtaba Mohammed of Mecklenburg County. “This bill serves only to create uncertainty and fear in these communities.”
Thursday’s move requires sheriffs and other prison administrators to determine whether anyone accused of a drug offense or violent crime has ICE detainees seeking custody. If they do, the sheriff’s delegates must promptly take the prisoner to a local magistrate or judge, who will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant. The additional detention would give ICE officers 48 hours to pick up the prisoner.
Most of the state’s 100 sheriffs obey detainees, but critics say the documents are not real arrest warrants and can be ignored. The process with the judge or magistrate must resolve this disagreement. The handful of sheriffs who refuse to impose detainees are black.
Edwards also offered an amendment on Thursday eliminating a clause that would have subjected a sheriff to a misdemeanor if the immigration consultation and hearing had not taken place. The 2019 law would have made sheriffs subject to removal from office.
Governor Cooper is unlikely to change ground on the new legislation. He said in 2019 that the bill would make it difficult for sheriffs to protect citizens from crime and argued that the move was “simply to score party political points and use fear to divide North Carolina”.
Senator Paul Lowe, a black Democrat from Forsyth County, said the move “looks like a racial profile of where I am.”
Edwards later took offense, saying that he had been called a racist. Lowe replied that he had not called anyone a racist.
Senator Sanderson said there is no profile in the bill because the defendants are taken to prison for committing violent crimes.
The bill’s approval came a day after the House voted to allow individuals to sue local government agencies trying to enforce “sanctuary city” immigration policies, which are already illegal in the state. An alliance of more than 30 civil rights and immigrant groups is opposed to the two measures.