North Carolina House Republicans want to force county sheriffs to cooperate again with federal agents looking for immigrants unlawfully in the country and charged with crimes.
House Speaker Tim Moore and other GOP members are sponsors of the measure filed Thursday. It's a response to several new sheriffs announcing they would stop honoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers or end participation in the 287(g) program, in which deputies check the immigration status of people arrested.
Sheriffs would be compelled, with some exceptions, to fulfill detainer requests, used to hold suspects up to 48 hours. Sheriffs also couldn't prevent immigration agents from conducting enforcement activities at jails.
Rep. Carson Smith is Pender County's former sheriff. He says some current sheriffs are "putting politics ahead of public safety" by keeping ICE away.