The North Carolina General Assembly is pushing an anti-immigrant bill that would force all North Carolina sheriffs to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain and deport community members or face removal from office. The latest version of this dangerous bill has been approved by the state Senate. Once the House approves the Senate version, it will go to Governor Roy Cooper for his signature or veto.
Introduced by anti-immigrant lawmakers, the bill is a clear attack on democratically elected North Carolina sheriffs who have pledged to stop working with federal immigration officers because they know doing so spreads fear and mistrust among the communities they are sworn to protect. H.B. 370 would strip those sheriffs of their ability to make decisions in the best interest of public safety. It would force every county in North Carolina to do the bidding of President Trump’s deportation force whether they want to or not.
ICE has a $7.6 billion budget to use for federal immigration enforcement, but under H.B. 370, taxpayers would end up footing the bill for holding people in detention for ICE — sometimes in violation of the Constitution. It’s important that we send a loud message to Governor Cooper that North Carolinians reject this extreme anti-immigrant agenda.
Governor Cooper has said he opposes the bill, calling it "unconstitutional" and "about scoring political points and using fear to divide us," but he has not yet promised to issue a veto.
