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Bill requiring sheriffs to honor ICE detainers heads to Cooper

Legislation that would require North Carolina sheriffs to hold inmates wanted by federal immigration officials for possible deportation cleared the General Assembly on Tuesday.

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By
Matthew Burns
, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor, & Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief
RALEIGH, N.C. — Legislation that would require North Carolina sheriffs to hold inmates wanted by federal immigration officials for possible deportation cleared the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Moments after the House voted 62-53 in favor of House Bill 370, opponents ratcheted up their calls for Gov. Roy Cooper to veto the measure.

"By vetoing this brazen attack on North Carolina’s sheriffs and voters who have made it clear they do not want ICE terrorizing their communities, Governor Cooper can send an important message that he supports both local law enforcement and the rights of all communities," Susanna Birdsong, senior policy counsel for the ACLU of North Carolina, said in a statement.

Dozens of businesses and organizations from across the state have expressed opposition to the bill, including Replacements Ltd., Quest Diagnostics, North Carolina Child, the NAACP, the North Carolina Council of Churches and the YWCA.

"This dangerous bill strips local law enforcement of their ability to make decisions in the best interest of public safety, forcing every county in North Carolina to divert resources to do the bidding of President Trump’s deportation force whether they want to or not," Birdsong said. "Governor Cooper should put a stop to this extreme agenda, stand up for local law enforcement and veto this bill without delay."

Cooper has indicated in the past that he is opposed to the measure, but he said he would look at it.

"We already have laws on the books that allow us to put in jail dangerous people regardless if immigration status. I fear this legislation is going to be used for political purposes to divide us," Cooper said.

House Bill 370 would require police and sheriffs to check everyone they arrest against the federal immigration database and, if requested, to hold them on detainer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Bill sponsors have said the proposal is designed to protect public safety, citing cases where people in the U.S. illegally who have been charged with crimes commit more crimes after being released from jail on bond, including a case in Mecklenburg County last week.

"If these sheriffs won't do all they can to protect the citizens of their counties, they ought to resign," said bill sponsor Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell. "The citizens of this state deserve public safety, and if these sheriffs won't give it to them, we will."

Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker, Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden and several other sheriffs elected last fall campaigned on building stronger relationships with their local Latino communities, which they said have been reluctant to report problems to law enforcement because some residents fear being deported.

Since then, the sheriffs have dropped out of the federal 287(g) program that allows local law enforcement to check the immigration status of people arrested and no longer honor detainers to hold people who have finished serving their sentences or posted bond in jail for immigration agents.
The sheriffs have said they feel targeted by the legislation, which calls for a sheriff who doesn't comply to be removed from office.

"This is requiring sheriffs who took an oath to do their job," said bill sponsor Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus. "This is not targeting anybody. This is about someone who has been arrested that is a criminal."

The bill sets out a process in which a judge or magistrate would order whether an inmate should be held on a detainer request, based on whether the inmate is the same person identified in the request. The inmate could be held for up to 48 hours after a prisoner is otherwise qualified to be released on bond.

"The vast majority of cases we’re talking about are people with traffic violations that you're asking to be held and people with no criminal record," said Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham.

Morey and other bill opponents noted that the federal government doesn't require local law enforcement to honor ICE detainers and that holding people in jail after they've served their sentences or have posted bond could open sheriffs up to lawsuits. They also said members of the Latino community might be less inclined to cooperate with a sheriff's office, even if they're crime victims, if the office is cooperating with ICE.

"This is a terrible position to put sheriffs in," said Rep. Scott Brewer, D-Richmond, who suggested ICE should simply get a federal judge to sign fugitive warrants for anyone the agency wants detained.

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