NC Sheriffs’ Association clarifies: ICE requests are voluntary, not mandatory

The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is pushing back against assertions that some sheriffs across the state are continuing to overlook state law, refusing to follow laws that require cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the removal of illegal aliens.

In a press release, the NC Sheriffs’ Association said that it is their “understanding and firm belief that all North Carolina sheriffs are fully complying with the legal requirements in G.S. 162-62, and we have seen no information or indication to the contrary.”

Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have claimed that about five of North Carolina’s 100 sheriffs continue to refuse to cooperate with ICE. However, the sheriffs’ association clarified that ICE requests are voluntary under the law and not currently enforceable by general statute, meaning all sheriffs, no matter their procedural differences, are complying.

“We acknowledge that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would prefer that sheriffs honor the request of ICE to voluntarily take additional actions beyond those required by State or federal law, ” reads the press release.

Voluntary ICE requests include honoring immigration detainers for 48 hours beyond the time that the prisoner would otherwise be released from the jail; and notifying ICE 48 hours before the prisoner would be released from the jail.

“Some sheriffs comply with these voluntary requests from ICE and others do not,” the release continued. “In either case, the sheriffs are fully complying with both state and federal law since the requests from ICE are voluntary and are not required by state or federal law nor by court order.”

Last week, the North Carolina House passed the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act to double down on requiring North Carolina’s law enforcement to cooperate with ICE to remove criminal illegal immigrants who have been charged with serious crimes from our communities. The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association worked closely with the bill sponsors on the drafted legislation to ensure that the amendments to state law don’t cause any operational difficulties for the sheriffs or their operation of the county jails.

SEE ALSO: NC House passes bill to crack down on sheriff cooperation with ICE

“We did pass a bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE in the last session,” NC House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said last week. “But unfortunately, somewhere around five or so sheriffs in our state, if not outright violating the law, were certainly violating the spirit that was behind that law that said that when an ICE detainer gets lodged, the sheriff has somebody in their jail who’s been charged with a serious crime, that they have to cooperate with ICE. So this bill fixes any perceived loopholes that may exist in the current law.”

Hall pointed to past situations in Mecklenburg County, where Sheriff Garry McFadden is known to not fully cooperate with ICE requests. In the press release, the NC Sheriffs’ Association urged lawmakers to refrain from pointing to specific sheriffs.

“While we sincerely value our partnerships with all of our elected officials, we encourage them and all others to refrain from making accusatory statements about any sheriff without first talking with that sheriff, and until becoming fully informed about the actual facts and information available from that sheriff,” concluded the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association. “Just as we believe that all North Carolina sheriffs are fully complying with the current legal requirements in G.S. 162-62, we are confident that if House Bill 318 is enacted into law all North Carolina sheriffs will fully comply with G.S. 162-62 as amended by House Bill 318. We have all taken an oath to do so, and we will!”

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