(The Center Square) – Enhanced cooperation by lawmen in North Carolina with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through legislation previously vetoed has become the law effective Oct. 1.
The Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act, known also as House Bill 318, was one of two immigration policy bills among the first 14 vetoes of first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. It also was his first on June 20 and it fell in part because Mecklenburg County Democratic Rep. Carla Cunningham joined 71 Republicans to override the veto and get it across the finish line.
A bill protecting taxpayers’ money in public benefits was overridden in the Senate and could still get a vote later in the House of Representatives.
Under the new immigration law, local law enforcement cannot release a suspect until 48 hours after ICE is notified. The law may eventually find its way to litigation. Stein said in his rejection message it is unconstitutional.
“The 4th Circuit is clear that local law enforcement officers cannot keep people in custody solely based on a suspected immigration violation,” Stein said.
“Governor Stein and Democrats side with criminal illegal aliens, but the House stands with North Carolinians,” said Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell. “North Carolina sheriffs must put public safety above politics and enforce the law, not help criminals escape it.”
Override in the House was first because the bill originated there. The vote was 72-48, with Cunningham making an impassioned address to the chamber.
“Some immigrants come and believe they can function in isolation, refusing to adapt,” she said. “They have come to our country for many reasons. But I suggest they must assimilate. Adapt to the culture of the country they wish to live in. No country is going to allow people to come in and not acknowledge the Constitution, legal systems, and laws. They will not tolerate it.
“So you think I can go to another country, and set up my own rules to live by, use the language I choose, and then tell that country that you must speak my language? That’s not going to happen, nor should it.”
Cunningham was the lone Democrat against the bill when it passed the chamber 66-45 on June 10. In the Senate, override was 30-19; passage on June 10 was 26-17.
The upper chamber delivered 12 overrides and included one that did not get a vote in the House of Representatives – the North Carolina Border Protection Act (Senate Bill 153). There’s only one chance per chamber on veto override votes, meaning lawmakers could still take a vote on it at a later date.
This bill would would give protection to taxpayer dollars through eligibility assurances for state-funded public benefits such as housing tax credits, child care subsidies and caregiver support. The Office of State Budget and Management, if the bill becomes law, would determine if unauthorized immigrants are receiving such benefits.
The North Carolina Border Protection Act would instruct memorandums of agreement to be extended to the director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the state’s law enforcement agencies – Department of Public Safety, Department of Adult Correction, State Highway Patrol, and the State Bureau of Investigation. Each would be lawfully ordered to determine immigration status of any person in custody.
The proposal was party lines in both chambers at passage – 26-17 in the Senate and 60-46 in the House. Eleven Republicans and three Democrats took excused absences on the vote in the House.
