North Carolina Republicans already seek to tighten up 2024 immigration enforcement law

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Republicans who last fall enacted their long-sought policy ordering local sheriffs to cooperate with federal agents seeking to locate and deport certain jail inmates already want it tightened further as President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown builds nationwide.

The GOP-controlled state House approved a measure Tuesday that would subject people accused of more categories of crimes in the ninth-largest state to inquiries about their immigration status that could ultimately lead to their deportation.

After then-Gov. Roy Cooper's veto was overridden, a law took effect in December that directed jails to hold for 48 hours certain defendants whom U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement believe are in the country illegally, allowing time for ICE to pick them up. The alleged offenders are the subject of ICE detainers and administrative warrants to temporarily hold inmates suspected of violating immigration laws.

The latest legislation also would make clear that jail officials must contact federal immigration agents if they are holding someone with these documents and tell them when they would otherwise be released.

Backers of the 2024 law — new House Speaker Destin Hall among them — said it would make communities safer, and that for years several sheriffs in predominantly Democratic counties were disregarding detainers. Cooper, a Democrat, had vetoed successfully similar immigration measures since 2019. calling them unconstitutional and divisive. But the GOP held veto-proof majorities in 2024.

Some behind the new bill say the law needs to be upgraded to align more closely with efforts by Trump and other Republicans in Washington to keep defendants from being released back onto the streets where they could possibly commit more crimes.

State Rep. Carson Smith, a bill sponsor and former Pender County sheriff, pointed recently to the new federal Laken Riley Act, which requires the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes.

Hall said during Tuesday's floor debate that about five of the state's 100 sheriffs are still, if not violating the law, ''certainly violating the spirit that was behind'' the 2024 state law.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden has been in a public feud with ICE leaders over whether he must alert agents about people in his jail who are subject to detainers. North Carolina sheriffs usually operate county jails.

''This bill fixes any perceived loophole and resolves a dangerous problem in this state,'' Hall said before Tuesday's 70-45 vote.

The 2024 law ordered a jail administrator to attempt to determine the legal residency of those jailed who are accused of the most violent felonies, some misdemeanors and domestic violence order violations. The new measure would expand that list to in part include all felonies and impaired-driving offenses.

The current law and the new proposal states that if the jailer determines that ICE has issued a detainer and administrative warrant, the inmate must be taken before a judicial official before they could be otherwise released.

The current law says that once the judicial official determines the inmate is subject to the detainer, the person must be held up to 48 hours after the detainer's receipt. Otherwise, the inmate can be released. But under the new bill, the 48-hour period would begin once the time the person otherwise would have been released has come to an end.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Democrats opposed to the bill say the measure is another effort to vilify immigrants who have been accused — but not convicted — of crimes, as well as to embrace the Trump administration's efforts to scapegoat people from other countries in the U.S.

During committee debate this month, Mario Alfaro with Latino advocacy group El Pueblo told lawmakers the bill ''amplifies anti-immigrant narratives'' that ignore the ''enormous contributions of the immigrant population, increase the risk of racial profiling and only generates fear and distrust in local law enforcement.''

The North Carolina Sheriffs' Association supports the bill, association Executive Vice President Eddie Caldwell told the House committee.

If passed by both chambers, the bill would go to new Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. His office did not immediately respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment. Democrats now hold enough General Assembly seats that a Stein veto could be upheld if they remain united.

The state Senate already passed an immigration bill this year that would force some state law enforcement agencies who report to Stein to cooperate with federal immigration agents. The bill now sits in the House.