Laura Brache

North Carolina Senate Bill 101 would force sheriffs to learn the immigration status of inmates and help the federal government to detain them. It’s the latest in a series of bills trying to force cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including one vetoed by the governor in 2019.

The Latino community is behind when it comes to vaccinating against COVID-19 in North Carolina. Language and cultural barriers play a big role, but so do misinformation and distrust, according to a recent survey.

Immigration cases are lengthy and complex. The backlog of cases climbed during former President Trump’s time in office, while the need for attorneys to take on these cases also grew. WFAE’s Laura Brache recently spent a day in court with a Charlotte immigration attorney as she went up against one of the toughest immigration courts in the nation.

Navigating immigration court is a complicated process. And most of the immigrants fighting their deportation at the Charlotte Immigration Court over the last 20 years did so without a lawyer, according to an analysis from Syracuse University. A pilot program has just started providing free immigration lawyers. WFAE spoke to one of the program’s first clients about how it helped her obtain legal status.

For three years, young immigrants brought into the U.S. illegally were blocked from applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, also known as DACA. The application process reopened in December, and immigration attorneys are expecting an outpouring of applicants.

Newly inaugurated Joe Biden is expected to introduce legislation overhauling U.S. immigration laws. It would create an eight-year pathway towards citizenship for qualifying immigrants and increase the number of refugees and asylum-seekers admitted to the U.S.

It’s been a year of adjustments with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the holidays are certainly different for many of us. The pandemic has changed Latino holiday traditions and this community is adjusting.

Farm and poultry workers gathered outside the state capitol building a month ago urging state officials to set stricter COVID-19 rules for their workplace. North Carolina coronavirus numbers are rising at the same time meat and poultry workers tackle the busy holiday season. After denying the petition, workers are now pushing a Wake County judge to force the Department of Labor to protect them.

From his first days in office, President Trump wasted no time in putting his mark on U.S. immigration policy. And he did it through executive orders. WFAE’s Laura Brache looks at four of those policies and the scope of their impact in North Carolina.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched a billboard campaign in Charlotte over the weekend. Sheriff Garry McFadden called the billboards misleading.