House approves bill directing sheriffs to cooperate with ICE detainers after amendment

Raleigh — The North Carolina House passed House Bill 318, titled in debate as the "Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act," after an amendment broadened the measure to add certain misdemeanors. Proponents said the bill closes what they called local gaps in cooperation with federal immigration detainer requests; opponents said it raises serious due-process and profiling concerns.

Representative Hall, the bill sponsor, told colleagues the measure is aimed at ensuring sheriffs cooperate with ICE when a detainer is issued for someone charged with a serious state crime. "This bill fixes any perceived loopholes that may exist in the current law," Hall said during floor remarks, arguing sheriffs’ cooperation protects public safety and officers by keeping transfers in controlled settings.

An amendment from Representative Echeverria that added specified class A misdemeanors (including battery and battery upon an unborn person) was adopted after debate. The amendment passed on the floor by recorded vote (71 affirmative, 44 negative). The sponsor and backers emphasized the amendment was intended to capture additional high-level misconduct that they said merits federal notification.

Opponents framed the bill as a threat to due process. A member identified in the transcript as Representative Mario said a detainer is "not an official document signed by a judge" and warned that holding people beyond release raises constitutional concerns: "A person in jail has not been convicted. They have been charged with a crime. There is a due process right of innocence until you're proven guilty," the member said.

Representative Lopez, speaking in opposition, cited enforcement statistics in the course of his remarks: "In the first month of this new administration, 447 detainers were issued by ICE right here in North Carolina. Of that, 53 were actually taken into ICE custody — just 12 percent," he said, using those figures to question how much additional cooperation would change outcomes.

Supporters including Representatives Powell and others argued the bill restores uniform practice and helps victims. Representative Powell invoked victims' cases in his floor remarks and said sheriffs should cooperate with federal partners in cases of serious crime.

After extended debate on policy, costs and constitutional risk, the House approved the committee substitute and then passed the bill on third reading; the bill will be sent to the Senate. The committee amendment and the transcript record show the amendment and final passage occurred on the floor following recorded and voice votes. The final roll-call counts for the bill’s third-reading passage are recorded in the floor transcript as the ayes prevailing; the clerk ordered the bill engrossed and sent to the Senate.