North Carolina Senate Republicans are wasting little time in the 2024 short session to revive House Bill 10 — a controversial bill that would force all sheriffs to cooperate with federal ICE officers.
ICE stands for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Senate Republican leadership appears to be taking a fast-track approach to HB10, titled “Require Sheriffs to Cooperate with ICE.” The Judiciary committee is scheduled to take up the bill at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Although more than 90 sheriffs in North Carolina comply with ICE requests, several Democratic sheriffs, including Bobby Kimbrough of Forsyth County and Danny Rogers of Guilford County, have limited their cooperation. Those sheriffs also have stated their opposition to the previous ICE legislation.
The N.C. Sheriffs’ Association has taken “no position” on HB10, said its general counsel Eddie Caldwell.
If HB10 clears Judiciary, it only has the gatekeeper Senate Rules and Operations committee before a potential Senate floor vote.
There had been talk among political analysts that HB10 would be addressed early on in a short session typically dedicated to tweaking the state budget.
Mitch Kokai, senior policy analyst with conservative think tank John Locke Foundation, said that “if the state Senate Republican caucus shows a strong interest in this issue, then we’ll likely see legislation move through the General Assembly fairly quickly.”
HB10 timing
The placement of HB10 in the Judiciary comes just more than 13 months after the House passed the bill by a 71-44 on March 29, 2023. Rep. Cecil Brockman of Guilford County was one of two Democrats who voted for HB10.
In March, all 72 N.C. House Republicans signed a letter sent by House speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on immigration issues.
The primary purpose of the letter is to urge Cooper to deploy additional N.C. National Guard troops to assist Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-immigration border campaign. More than a dozen Republican governors have sent state National Guard units to the southern border since 2021.
The letter also requests that Cooper “commit to signing legislation that mandates cooperation with ICE by local police departments to remove illegal immigrants who are committing crimes.”
“Many illegal immigrants are unaccompanied military-aged men with military or cartel experience.”
Moore concluded the letter that “we trust you share our desire to protect the state from the failures of the federal government’s open borders policies.”
“However, if for some reason you failed to take action, these and other options will be on the table for the House supermajority during the upcoming legislative short session.”
Cooper successfully vetoed in 2019 and 2022 bills that cleared the Republican-controlled legislature containing the ICE language. No House or Senate Democrat voted for Senate Bill 101 in 2022 and House Bill 370 in 2019.
Republicans hold the exact number necessary in the House (72 votes) and Senate (30 votes) to override a veto.
Yet, the Senate version of the ICE bill, Senate Bill 50, was not heard in committee after being introduced on Jan. 31, 2023.
ICE background
The ICE legislation requires all sheriffs to hold suspects in certain crimes for at least 48 hours when their immigration status is unknown or they are in the country illegally.
Bill sponsors said the 2023 versions contain language they believe addresses Cooper’s concerns about the previous bills.
“Instead of requiring a query of ICE on any infraction of anyone who is brought into a jail, it only requires an inquiry when someone is accused of the most heinous crimes,” said Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, and HB10’s primary sponsor, said during the March 2023 debate on the bill.
“They would be held long enough for ICE to come in and do their job in a more controlled environment rather than in local communities in a much more dangerous environment.”
The second major difference reflects concerns expressed by Cooper about potential criminal penalties for sheriffs who decline to cooperate with ICE in detaining inmates.
The Forsyth Sheriff’s Office issued a statement after Senate Bill 101 cleared the legislature on July 1, 2022, that included a quote from Kimbrough.
“We will continue to do what is moral, what is legal and what is right,” Kimbrough said. “We have been and will continue to be a law-abiding law enforcement agency.”
Other sheriffs have made similar statements.
Hall has said that non-cooperating sheriffs “are putting partisan politics ahead of public safety.”
“This bill (HB10) would end that controversy because I believe they will follow the law if this (bill) is passed.
“But, if they won’t, there are a number of remedies already in law, including potential removal from office, and a judge can require a sheriff to follow the law.”
Hall said during the 2023 floor debate that most ICE detainees are transferred within 24 hours, much less the 48 hours permitted in the bill.
Opponents say voters in those counties elected Democratic sheriffs knowing their stance on ICE cooperation, and the bill is an attempt to usurp their authority.
Critics of the ICE legislation say the measure could increase jail time for suspects who have otherwise met the conditions for release.
They also point out it would force sheriff’s offices to investigate the immigration status of anyone booked into the jail.
“Being held for 48 hours for non-serious crimes can change someone’s life for good,” said Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, citing potential loss of job as an example.
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