There’s a new sheriff in town, and he starts with sanctuary for illegals

WAKE COUNTY – One of the overlooked developments one election day were several Republican sheriff race losses, many surprising, that completely changes the law enforcement direction on cooperating with federal authorities in executing the country’s illegal immigration laws. Big markets like Guilford County (Greensboro) and Wake County (Raleigh), lost solid Sheriffs in B.J. Barnes and Donnie Harrison, respectively.

And now Harrison’s replacement, Democrat Gerald Baker, is wasting no time to reverse existing policy to stick his thumb in the eye of federal immigration authorities.

Toward that end, he said he would end Wake County’s involvement with the federal 287(g) program “as soon as we walk in the door” next month. The county is one of only six in North Carolina that partners with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transfer to federal custody people who have been arrested and are believed to be in the U.S. illegally.

Harrison said 287(g) provided a tool to keep the community safe, but Baker said there’s no evidence that it helps reduce crime. In fact, he said, it might promote crime because it makes people in the Latino community afraid to call the sheriff’s office for help.

[…]

“Regardless of what color you are and where you’re from, if you break the law and we have to deal with you, we’re going to deal with you according to the law, not where you come from or whether you should be here,” he added. “If someone needs to be deported, that’s a federal matter, and let them deal with it.”

First of all, the entire premise of this argument is wrong; being in the country illegally IS A CRIME. Reducing illegal immigration violators, therefore, reduces crime. If Baker were really intent upon enforcing the law then he would be following all of them, not just the ones that fit his political agenda.

Furthermore, the excuse that illegal immigration status and run ins with police in North Carolina is a federal problem doesn’t hold water. In addition to immigration laws, North Carolina has it’s own residency laws, which an established illegal alien is likely violating, and a county’s top law enforcement official should be absolutely working with ICE to help hold illegal immigrants accountable for breaking the law.

The message policies like these send to a counties like Wake, Mecklenburg, and Greensboro is clear, and it presents them as a beacon for illegals looking for a place they can fly under the radar. After all, if you know the local sheriff’s department isn’t going to concern itself with immigration status you can feel assured of sanctuary

And as these illegal alien friendly policies are being advertised by the new sheriff in town, NC FIRE is compiling November’s report of the dozens of NC sexual assault and rape charges by people who should not be here in the first place.

Read more from the new sheriff here, and brace yourself for future tensions among conservative immigration hawks in the N.C. General Assembly and sanctuary city sheriffs.

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