It’s been one month since a new North Carolina law requiring sheriffs to work more closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement went into effect, and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office is navigating the new landscape.
House Bill 318, the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act, went into effect on Oct. 1. It requires sheriffs to hold undocumented inmates for 48 hours past their release date and notify ICE two hours before release.
If an undocumented individual is charged with a felony, certain sexual offenses or DWI, sheriffs must contact ICE. If ICE doesn’t respond within 48 hours, the sheriff must release the person in accordance with bail conditions set by a judge or magistrate.
Since the law went into effect, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office says it has received over 90 detainer orders from ICE, requiring the jail to hold those inmates for an extra 48 hours. More than 30 undocumented inmates have been picked up by ICE.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden says there are some flaws in the law, such as deporting people before their pending criminal cases are resolved.
“How can it make it safer if we are saying your charges don't matter, they are going to be deported, and they are never tried, convicted, pled guilty to those charges?” McFadden asked.
McFadden says his office is complying with ICE and ensuring there is proper communication between the two agencies, but will not do more than what’s required by the law. He ended the county's 287(g) partnership with ICE in 2018, shortly after taking office.
