NC lawmakers vote for more ICE cooperation, as immigration protests pick up nationwide

The North Carolina Senate approved a wide-ranging immigration bill Tuesday, requiring state and local government agencies to cooperate with deportation efforts by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials.

The vote came amid nationwide protests against ICE, and on Tuesday dozens of protesters packed the Senate gallery, shouting their disapproval as the vote passed the Republican-led chamber.

The bill now goes to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk — potentially setting up the first major veto battle between the Republican-led legislature and the new Democratic governor. A spokesperson for Stein on Tuesday didn't say whether he'd veto it. But both inside and outside the legislature, protesters and Democratic lawmakers called on him to do just that.

"The governor will continue to review the bill," Stein spokeswoman Morgan Hopkins told WRAL. "He has made clear that if someone commits a crime and they are here illegally, they should be deported."

North Carolina already requires county sheriffs, who operate all of the state’s jails, to work with ICE on deporting people who have been accused of committing crimes.

Senate Bill 153 goes substantially further. It would require many city, county and state government officials — not just law enforcement — to cooperate with ICE. And it would allow cities, counties and the UNC system to be sued for potentially millions of dollars if they don’t.

Those new rules, if they become law, would help ICE expand its deportation efforts beyond people with criminal convictions by gaining easy access to a number of government agencies and buildings including public schools, social service offices and public universities — including the hospitals and health clinics run by UNC and ECU in dozens of counties statewide.

No Republicans spoke during Tuesday's Senate debate to explain their support for the bill, or to counter Democrats' accusations that it would cruelly split up families and harm the state's economy. Afterward, Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters North Carolina needs to do more to help the federal government deport people, regardless of whether they've committed any crimes.

"The public sentiment is that folks that are here illegally should be removed from the country," Berger said.

A WRAL News poll in March 2024, ahead of that year's presidential election, found that nearly 80% of likely North Carolina voters wanted to see stricter immigration enforcement.

And in December, just after Republican President Donald Trump defeated Democratic challenger Kamala Harris, a separate WRAL News poll found that 60% of all voters — including nearly half of Democrats — said they'd support Trump deploying the military to round up immigrants. Doing so would violate federal law, but it was a campaign promise Trump made in 2024. So far he has not followed through on that promise.

Sen. Natalie Murdock, D-Durham, said since North Carolina is already working with ICE to deport people accused of crimes, she saw no reason to expand the dragnet with SB 153 and round up people who are just trying to go to work or pick their kids up from school.

"This bill really is not about safety," she said. "It's about intimidation. It's about fear-mongering, and it's about targeting vulnerable people who come to North Carolina seeking a better life. Each and every day, immigrants are an essential part of our communities."

One Democrat who has previously voted with Republicans on immigration bills in the state House, Rep. Carla Cunningham of Charlotte, gave a passionate speech against the bill last week. She said it goes too far, targeting people who aren’t criminals.

"I want ICE to get the people in my communities that are devastating us, smuggling drugs," she said. "Yes, I still want that. But I don't want innocent people to be hurt."

The bill would put Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek in charge of investigating schools and other government entities to gauge their level of cooperation. Anyone he deems to have not been fully cooperative with ICE would be opened up to lawsuits.

In addition to requiring widespread cooperation with ICE by government employees, Senate Bill 153 would also order anyone in charge of taking applications for government benefits — for food, housing, education or other aid — with checking the immigration status of everyone who applies.

Supporters say it’ll ensure no immigrants are getting benefits they shouldn’t. Critics say it’ll slow down the process, delaying help for eligible people who need it, and that it’ll also scare immigrant parents from applying for benefits that their U.S. citizen children qualify for.

Republicans lost their veto-proof supermajority in the state House in the 2024 elections, meaning they’ll need at least one Democratic vote to override any potential vetoes by Stein. When the bill passed the House last week, no Democrats voted for it.

Within hours, the North Carolina Republican Party had begun running ads targeting several House Democrats in swing districts over that vote, accusing them of “prioritizing political posturing over protecting communities.”

Another ICE vote

Also Tuesday the Senate and House each voted on another immigration-related bill, Senate Bill 318, making tweaks to last year’s law requiring sheriffs to work with ICE. Republicans said there were loopholes in last year’s bill that needed to be fixed.

The chamber's top Democrat, Sen. Sydney Batch, D-Wake, proposed an amendment to the bill that would give victims of crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants the opportunity to ask that they not be deported, so that they can be put on trial and potentially imprisoned in the U.S.

“For anyone that has been a victim of a crime — or a family member — having your day in court, being heard and feeling vindicated that someone has been held responsible, is a lot of closure that a lot of victims need,” Batch said.

Republicans shot down her amendment in a party-line vote, with no explanation. After the vote, Berger told reporters he thought maybe prosecutors already had the power to do what Batch wanted. Batch, in response, said if that was true then Berger and other Republicans should've had no problem backing her amendment.

The bill also now heads to Stein's desk for him to sign or veto.

Trump visits NC

Tuesday’s votes came amid a broader national spotlight on immigration, and as Republican President Donald Trump was in North Carolina, visiting Fort Bragg.

In Los Angeles, hundreds of people have taken to the streets to protest ICE in recent days. Trump ordered more than 4,000 troops from the California National Guard into LA to put down the protests, over the objection of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom and other critics, including the LA police chief, have said the troops were unnecessary, could hamper the ability of local police to operate, and could escalate violence.

Trump also ordered 700 Marines into LA to potentially add to the response. It’s illegal for the military to deploy on U.S. soil in most cases, but Trump told reporters Tuesday he’s thinking about invoking a 1792 law that allows the military to be deployed domestically to quash a rebellion.

A top Pentagon official said Trump’s actions sending in the Marines and National Guard are expected to cost $134 million.

In North Carolina, several hundred anti-ICE protesters marched in Raleigh on Monday and Tuesday, with further protests planned later in the week. Ahead of the state Senate’s vote Tuesday, several dozen protesters began heading into the legislative building.

One of them, Joseph Avery, traveled from Fayetteville to Raleigh for the protest. He said it was important to counter Trump’s claims about violent protests.

“If we can take the preemptive strike of showing our disapproval, the community can start to see we’re not violent,” he said. “We’re not actually causing destruction, like the reports from the White House are. We’re here to actually stand as the people who show that we are the builders, we are the communicators, we are the safety net.”