(The Center Square) – How to handle a sheriff who failed to cooperate if law was enacted forcing county lawmen and jailers to comply with federal immigration requests was the hurdle lawmakers could not clear before ending the short session Thursday.
The Senate and House of Representatives had hoped to get to the finish line amid rising worries of immigrants flooding into America illegally and committing crimes. News reports nationwide are escalating with cases of vicious crime tied to people who entered the country illegally, and often with that fact concealed.
Require Sheriffs to Cooperate with ICE, as House Bill 10 is known, attempted to address a gap in communication and handling of cases by sheriffs, mostly by Democrats in urban areas, and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, known as ICE. The legislation’s last action on Monday was the appointment of conferees – Reps. Destin Hall of Caldwell County and Brenden Jones of Columbus County from the House, and Sens. Warren Daniel of Burke County, Danny Britt of Robeson County, Buck Newton of Wilson County and Bill Rabon of Brunswick County from the Senate.
Under HB10, sheriff’s offices “shall attempt to determine if the prisoner is a legal resident of the United States by an inquiry of the prisoner, or by examination of any relevant documents.”
This would include any prisoners charged with a felony or Class 1 misdemeanor.
Inability to determine whether the person is in the country legally would lead to required contacting of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hall wrote on social media earlier this year that several “woke” sheriffs are refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. He previously described the need for such a law in a perplexing manner.
“These sanctuary sheriffs are creating an environment where illegal aliens who have been charged with serious crimes in our state are protected from deportation and are released back into our communities where they often go on to commit new crimes,” the legislator said. “Many of these crimes are serious felonies like rape, arson, attempted murder, theft, assault, and drug-related offenses.”
Lawmakers have said about 90% of the 100 counties would not need the legislation.
