Democrat joins GOP in supporting NC proposal bolstering ICE cooperation law

A GOP bill that seeks to bolster the state law requiring sheriffs to cooperate more closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved forward on Tuesday with the support of a Charlotte Democrat.

The N.C. House voted 70-45 to approve House Bill 318, a measure spearheaded by Republican Speaker Destin Hall. It builds on the law enacted last year by adding a new notification requirement to the process that currently takes place when ICE submits a temporary detention request to sheriffs and other local law enforcement.

The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats voting against the bill except for one, Rep. Carla Cunningham.

Cunningham’s support for the bill stood out as several other Democrats from Mecklenburg County spoke during the debate on Tuesday afternoon to express their strong opposition to it.

Cunningham, one of a few swing votes in the House, previously voted for the GOP legislation last year that required sheriffs to comply with ICE detainers. She also voted to override former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill, helping Republicans enact it into law.

Cunningham expects Meck sheriff to cooperate with ICE

During Tuesday’s debate, Cunningham spoke about the need to address violent crime in Mecklenburg County. She also mentioned the surge in overdose deaths, and referenced the county’s report from February that overdose deaths among Black and Hispanic residents of Mecklenburg have increased by 200% since 2019.

“That 200% are people that look like me,” Cunningham said. “They’re my grandkids, your grandkids that’s associating with it.”

Hall introduced HB 318 in March in response to a dispute he said he was following between Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden and ICE.

The dispute began in January, when McFadden said ICE hadn’t been communicating with his deputies and failed to take custody of a Honduran national who had been charged with domestic violence. Under HB 10, sheriffs must hold someone subject to an ICE detainer for up to 48 hours to give the agency time to take custody.

ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams previously told the Charlotte Observer that the agency requires a notification, either a phone call or an email, 48 hours before individuals held on detainers are released from jail.

Williams said that some sheriffs in the state already make that phone call to ICE, in addition to the initial notice the agency receives when local law enforcement tells ICE they’ve booked someone in their jails whose citizenship or legal status can’t be determined.

McFadden responded that HB 10, as it was written and passed last year, did not require him to make that additional phone call.

He also told the Charlotte Observer that the main issue for his office had been a lack of communication by ICE, and said that once he receives a detainer request from ICE, the agency should be ready to take custody within 48 hours, as the law requires.

“If it requires the sheriff to do his duty, and align with the federal government, with ICE, I expect him to do that,” Cunningham said Tuesday. “Because that’s protecting my community too. My children too.”

Hall hopes Stein will sign the bill into law

After Tuesday’s voting session, Hall told The News & Observer he hasn’t discussed HB 318 with Gov. Josh Stein, but he hopes Stein will sign it into law should it reach his desk.

Hall said that when he first started working on the issue of requiring cooperation with ICE in 2019, “part of me thought even Cooper may not veto it, because it’s a pretty clear issue.”

“It’s pretty clear that folks in this state want sheriffs cooperating with ICE, and we knew Cooper would probably veto it, but you know, again, we weren’t sure,” Hall said. “With Stein, who knows? I hope he signs it. I think there’s a chance. I haven’t discussed it with him directly, so I don’t know.”

While Hall and Stein haven’t had a conversation about the bill, Hall’s office told The N&O that both offices have had “staff-level discussions” about the bill, which didn’t happen with similar ICE-cooperation bills when Cooper was governor.

Republicans previously controlled supermajorities capable of overriding vetoes in both chambers, but lost total control in the House by one seat in November. That means that with any legislation that gets vetoed this session, Republicans will need at least one Democrat to join them in an override vote.

Hall told The N&O he hasn’t talked with Cunningham about a potential override, but said her comments during the floor debate show that “she seems to be pretty passionate about the issue.”

“Based on her comments today, I think she probably will vote to override, but I haven’t spoken to her about that yet directly,” Hall said.

Before GOP lawmakers can send HB 318 to Stein, it will have to pass the Senate.

Republicans in that chamber passed their own immigration enforcement bill earlier this year that would expand ICE cooperation to state agencies and require the Departments of Public Safety and Adult Correction, as well as the State Highway Patrol and Bureau of Investigation to enter cooperation agreements with the federal agency.