On January 25, 2023 the NC House filed anti-immigrant billHB 10 “Require Sheriffs to Cooperate with ICE.” Like SB 101, which was vetoed last session , this bill interferes with communities' and sheriffs' decisions aboutlocal resourcesand priorities, exposes sheriffs and counties toexpensive lawsuitsfor constitutional violations, anderodes community trustin law enforcement.

The North Carolina House Judiciary 2 Committee will hear HB 10 (Require Sheriffs to Cooperate with ICE)TOMORROW, February 22nd at 10:00am in Room 421 LOB. This bill can move quicklyand it will likely be sent to the House Rules, Calendar and Operations Committee afterward at 11:00am and could move to the House floor for a vote Wednesday evening or Thursday afternoon.

NASW-NC OPPOSES this bill and we ask you to contact your House member to ask them to vote against HB10.

HB 10 has two main parts:

1. Local jails will shoulder the expense of doing the federal government’s work.HB 10 modifies existing North Carolina law (N.C.G.S. 162-62) by requiring jails to investigate the immigration status of every person brought to jail who is charged with a felony drug offense, a felony or A1 misdemeanor assault, violation of the 50B protective order, human trafficking, gang activity, homicide, or rape. Currently this provision applies to all felonies and DWI charges. If the jail cannot determine the person's immigration status, then they are required to notify ICE.
2. It requires compliance withall ICE detainer requests, without exception.The jail or confinement facility must comply with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requestforany person charged with any criminal offense. This means holding a person for 48 hours after they would otherwise be released under state law, even if a court has permitted the person to be released until their trial. Detainers and the accompanying administrative warrant are NOT signed by a judge, and do not constitute criminal warrants. They are voluntary requests by low-level ICE agents that have not been reviewed by a neutral arbiter to verify if probable cause exists for the detention.
   
   The bill also forces magistrates and judges to rubber stamp ICE’s administrative detainers. For each detainer request, the judicial official would have to determine whether the person listed on the detainer has been properly identified as the person held in the jail. In addition to conflicting with federal law, this process does nothing to consider or address whether the detainer is based on probable cause, leaving the sheriffs open to liability for wrongful imprisonment. For example, this process would not leave any practical way for someone who may in fact be a U.S. Citizen to be released, if their name is on the detainer request.

TAKE ACTION NOW!