Overview
Immigration enforcement is largely a federal responsibility, but over the past decade, North Carolina lawmakers have steadily expanded the state’s role.
Three bills passed in the last 15 months marked perhaps the biggest shift in the state’s policies, codifying the mandate to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement into state law.
Want to understand how we got here? Explore the timeline and discover what the changes mean for North Carolinians.
What are ‘sanctuary cities’?
In 2015, then-Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill prohibiting cities and counties from adopting "sanctuary city" policies.
‘Sanctuary city’ does not have a legal definition. Lawmakers and advocates - most often Republican and conservative - use the term to describe local governments that have adopted ordinances limiting how much they cooperate with federal immigration agents. They decry these governments as “sanctuaries” for individuals without legal status.
In North Carolina and elsewhere, that included policies like:
- Declining to honor ICE detainer requests without a judicial warrant
- Limiting local law enforcement officers’ ability to ask an individual about their immigration status
- Declining to participate in the federal government’s 287(g) program, which legally allowed local officers to carry out some immigration enforcement duties
- Prohibiting local law enforcement from sharing immigration information with federal agencies
At the signing, McCrory framed it as an issue of public safety.
“Each individual arriving here in a legal manner, following our laws, in search of a better life is a blessing to our state and to our country,” McCrory said, signing the bill in front of a group of law enforcement officers in Greensboro. “We want to continue that strength of our great country, but in doing so, we must follow the law and not tie the hands of the men and women behind me.”
That law, known as the Protect North Carolina Workers Act, also required certain employers to verify immigration status before hiring new employees and limited the types of identification cards cities and counties could issue.
More broadly, it set the foundation for recent immigration policies. Municipal governments could no longer opt out of cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
What is 287(g)?
Following the passage of the Protect North Carolina Workers Act, some sheriffs argued they could still refuse certain immigration training programs, including 287(g).
287(g) is an agreement between a local sheriff’s office and ICE. If a sheriff enters the program, some of the sheriff’s deputies can get immigration enforcement training and perform certain duties under ICE supervision.
They include:
- Accessing federal immigration databases
- Interviewing inmates in their county jail about immigration status
- Flagging inmates who might be subject to deportation under federal law
- Preparing immigration paperwork, including detainers
- Issuing warrants
- Coordinating with ICE to transfer an inmate into federal custody
Sheriff’s deputies only perform these duties while an individual is already in custody at their county jail on state charges. They do not conduct immigration raids or patrol neighborhoods for immigration violations.
After the 2018 elections, newly elected sheriffs in Mecklenburg and Wake counties withdrew from 287(g). They argued the 2015 law prevented them from refusing to cooperate with ICE, but did not require them to enter into or maintain a partnership.
That interpretation renewed debate among lawmakers in Raleigh.
What is a detainer?
When someone is arrested and booked into a county jail, the local sheriff’s office may try to determine whether the person is a U.S. citizen or legal resident. If law enforcement can not confirm someone’s immigration status, they may contact ICE.
If ICE believes the individual might be subject to deportation under federal law, the agency can issue a detainer, asking the jail to hold the person beyond their scheduled release. ICE can also issue an administrative warrant, which authorizes law enforcement to transfer the individual to federal custody.
In 2019, state lawmakers passed House Bill 370, which would have required sheriffs to honor certain ICE detainers and hold inmates for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release.
Then-Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill. Republican supporters did not have enough votes to override the veto, and the bill never became law.
What is an administrative warrant? Is it constitutional?
An administrative warrant is a document issued by ICE that authorizes immigration agents to take custody of someone they believe is subject to deportation. These are not criminal warrants signed by a judge.
The Department of Homeland Security insists any individual who has been issued an administrative warrant has already received a deportation order from a judge, though immigration proceedings are civil matters, not criminal.
Some legal scholars have questioned whether administrative warrants from ICE might violate the 4th Amendment if agents use one to enter an individual’s home. The 4th Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Under House Bill 10, passed in 2024, if a judge finds an ICE detainer and administrative warrant to be valid, the local sheriff’s office must hold the individual for up to 48 hours to allow ICE to assume custody.
"The Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act"
In 2025, lawmakers expanded the list of criminal charges that automatically trigger immigration checks.
Under the new law, sheriffs must attempt to determine whether someone is a U.S. citizen or legal resident if charged with:
- Any felony
- Certain violent misdemeanors
- Violating a domestic violence protective order
- Driving while impaired
The requirement also applies at pretrial release hearings. A judge must attempt to determine citizenship status and can order a temporary hold while contacting ICE.
Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the bill, calling it unconstitutional.
In July 2025, Republican lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto with the help of one Democrat, state Rep. Carla Cunningham of Mecklenburg County.
The North Carolina Border Protection Act
A bill known as the North Carolina Border Protection Act is the General Assembly’s latest attempt to expand the state’s immigration policies beyond county jails.
The measure would require state law enforcement agencies - including the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Adult Correction, the state Highway Patrol and the State Bureau of Investigation - to enter into formal 287(g) agreements with ICE.
The bill also waives immunity for local governments that violate the prohibition against sanctuary policies, meaning cities or counties could face civil lawsuits if someone who should be subject to an ICE detainer is released, and then commits a crime.
Gov. Stein, who oversees many of the agencies named in the bill, vetoed it. The state Senate has overridden his veto, but the House has yet to take an override vote, so it is not yet law.
How it played out in Charlotte and the Triangle
In late 2025 and into 2026, the Department of Homeland Security carried out sweeping immigration enforcement operations in Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham. Over several days in November, federal agents made hundreds of arrests, first in Charlotte, and then the Triangle.
NC Local has filed a public records request, seeking to identify all of those arrested and whether they had criminal charges. The department has not yet provided the requested information.
Those operations happened amid a broader increase of immigration arrests statewide. NC Local previously analyzed data for the first nine months of President Trump’s second term showing ICE arrested about 3,300 people, roughly double the number of people arrested in North Carolina in all of 2024.
That increase is due in part to federal policy shifts under the Trump Administration, but it also reflects how recent state laws brought more people into contact with federal immigration enforcement.
Community groups like Siembra NC say the presence of federal agents, whether in immigration sweeps or at routine court dates, disrupted daily life for members of immigrant households. Some were too scared to leave home during November’s immigration raids.
At the same time, many state lawmakers continue to argue immigration enforcement is a matter of public safety.
What's next?
Some North Carolina lawmakers spoke out against the immigration action in Minnesota that claimed the lives of two Americans. Rep. Renée Price, D-Orange, called the actions "unconscionable" at a news conference at the legislature, WRAL reported.
The North Carolina Border Protection Act is on the legislative calendar for early March, but lawmakers will likely keep delaying that vote until House and Senate Republicans resolve the differences in their budget proposals.
Immigration is expected to take center stage in local elections, including several state house races in the Mecklenburg area.
This article first appeared on NCLocal and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.