GOP members of the North Carolina House of Representatives have just taken action to advance a plan to outlaw sanctuary counties, which are counties that shield illegal immigrants arrested and known by law enforcement from arrest and deportation. The Center for Immigration Studies, describing what a sanctuary county is, said:
These cities, counties, and states have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE — either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, denying ICE access to interview incarcerated aliens, or otherwise impeding communication or information exchanges between their personnel and federal immigration officers.
A detainer is the primary tool used by ICE to gain custody of criminal aliens for deportation. It is a notice to another law enforcement agency that ICE intends to assume custody of an alien and includes information on the alien’s previous criminal history, immigration violations, and potential threat to public safety or security.
They did so with HB 10, a bill sponsored by state GOP Reps. Destin Hall, Brenden Jones, Jason Saine, and Carson Smith. If put into law, it would require every county in North Carolina to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
There are currently six sanctuary counties in North Carolina, again according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Those are Buncombe County, Durham County, Forsyth County, Mecklenburg County, Orange County, and Wake County. To stop them from being sanctuary counties, the bill provides that:
When any person charged with a criminal offense is confined for any period in a county jail, local confinement facility, district confinement facility, satellite jail, or work release unit, and the administrator or other person in charge of the facility has been notified that Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States Department of Homeland Security has issued a detainer and administrative warrant that reasonably appears to be for the person in custody, the following shall apply:
(1) Prior to the prisoner’s release, and after receipt of the detainer and administrative warrant, or a copy thereof, by the administrator or other person in charge of the facility, the prisoner shall be taken without unnecessary delay before a State judicial official who shall be provided with the detainer and administrative warrant, or a copy thereof.
(2) The judicial official shall issue an order directing the prisoner be held in custody if the prisoner appearing before the judicial official is the same person subject to the detainer and administrative warrant.
The bill goes on to provide that no LEO shall be held liable for complying with the bill and that any illegal arrested shall be held in custody for 48 hours or until ICE has either rescinded the retainer or taken custody of the prisoner, giving it time to decide what to do with the illegal.
State Rep. Tricia Cotham, who recently switched parties and became a Republican because of the hostility shown toward the flag by Democrats, voted for the bill, which passed the House 71 to 44.
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