Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden pointedly told lawmakers on Tuesday to let them run their agencies and have federal officials enforce immigration laws.

"ICE needs to do their job and not expect us to do their job," McFadden told members of the Senate Judiciary committee.

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"The folks I represent, the folks who elected me, feel very strongly about this office being able to treat people who reside in this county according to the law," Baker said.

Senate Bill 101, dubbed Require Cooperation with ICE 2.0, states that local officials must determine the identity and immigration status of anyone booked into their county or city jail on a felony charge or an impaired driving charge. If they can't, they must request the assistance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to do so.

Anyone found to be in the U.S. illegally must, under the proposal, be held for 48 hours so ICE agents can pick them up.

Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed similar legislation two years ago because it included a provision that sheriffs who didn't abide by it could be removed from office.

Backers of the latest bill have removed that provision but added the penalty of a Class 3 misdemeanor for anyone who refuses to comply with the measure.

In response to questioning from a Democratic member of the committee, Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president and general counsel for the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association, said that person could be the sheriff if he told his jail staff to ignore the law.

Baker, McFadden and other metro sheriffs across North Carolina have argued that a detainer issued by ICE isn't legally sufficient to continue holding someone in jail who has posted bond or completed a sentence. The latest version of the bill calls for a magistrate to issue a judicial order for detention of inmates found to be in the U.S. unlawfully.

The Senate Judiciary committee approved the bill on a voice vote, and it has one more stop before heading to the Senate floor.

Meanwhile, in the House on Tuesday, a bill targeting so-called "sanctuary cities" moved through the House Judiciary 1 committee.

A 2015 state law already forbids local governments from restricting "the enforcement of federal immigration laws," but House Bill 62 would add a new enforcement mechanism, allowing anyone to go to court seeking an injunction against local governments that violate that law. If they're successful, the local government would have to cover their legal fees.

"Especially during a pandemic, North Carolinians expect lawmakers to improve the safety and well-being of our neighbors and communities. However, this legislation would put people at greater risk of COVID-19, spread fear among families and fan the flames of hate against immigrant community members," the Immigrants' Rights Alliance of North Carolina said in a statement. “We strongly urge the N.C. legislature to reject SB 101 and HB 62. North Carolinians deserve better from their elected officials than these divisive and harmful proposals."

WRAL Statehouse Reporter Travis Fain contributed to this report.