NC Republicans name one of highest priorities if they win supermajority
One of the highest priorities for Republicans if they take veto-proof control of the North Carolina legislature will be to force local sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials, says Rep. Destin Hall, a Republican from Caldwell County.
Hall promised Republicans would move on the legislation if they gain control after November’s elections during a roundtable discussion on immigration policies Wednesday with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, other state legislators and several North Carolina sheriffs.
Previous bills aimed at accomplishing that goal have failed under Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. If Republicans gain a handful of seats in November, though, Republicans will be able to pass legislation even if Cooper vetoes it.
Republicans need to gain three seats in the state House and two in the state Senate for a veto-proof majority.
Ending sanctuary cities a priority
Cooper vetoed the latest version of the bill, Senate Bill 101, in July. The governor wrote in his veto that the bill was “only about scoring political points and using fear to divide North Carolinians.”
It would have required local law enforcement officials to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they detained a person whose residency status was unclear and who was charged with certain crimes, including felony drug crimes, rape, domestic violence, homicide and other high-level crimes.
Hall said more than 90 sheriffs’ offices currently work with ICE in that capacity. Counties that don’t include Mecklenburg, Wake, Buncombe and Forsyth.
Opponents of the bill argue local officials already prosecute people charged with serious crimes regardless of their immigration status. They also say municipalities and counties should have the right to manage these cases on their own without interference from the state.
On Wednesday, Hall said the legislation and policies he supports won’t target nonviolent immigrants, even if they entered the country illegally.
“This is not going out and rounding folks up,” Hall said.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden has previously said laws that force him to cooperate with ICE are “bullying” attempts to undermine his authority.
“Any attempt to force Sheriffs nationwide to detain individuals for (ICE) will not only negatively impact public safety in Mecklenburg County . . . it will significantly erode the authority of all duly elected Sheriffs,” McFadden said in a statement in 2019.
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. has also opposed the bill and said in 2019 that his office “will not be an extension of immigrant investigations.”
Federal immigration bill, too
Both Budd and Tillis said they support federal legislation to allow victims of crimes committed by previously released immigrants who are in the country without legal authorization to sue the municipalities or counties that released them.
Tillis encouraged state legislators to take up similar legislation in Raleigh.
Research suggests immigrants, both those with and without legal authorization, are less likely to commit crimes than natural-born Americans. One study in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found U.S.-born citizens in Texas were twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes, more than twice as likely to be arrested for drug crimes and over four times more likely to be arrested for property crimes when compared to immigrants in the country without authorization.
Tillis said municipalities and counties should focus on removing violent criminals who, he said, are most likely to hurt and exploit other immigrants. He added that federal policies have failed to slow illegal immigration, which has propped up violent drug cartels that profit from border crossings and exploit desperate families.
Wednesday’s roundtable discussion in Lexington came about two months before Election Day on Nov. 8. Budd is running for U.S. Senate, and state legislators are running for reelection.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 3:45 PM.
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