House Bill 10 could change the way Meck County law enforcement interacts with ICE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said back in 2018 when he was elected to office that he would not be following detainer requests from ICE because state law says once a person in the US illegally makes bond, law enforcement has to let that person out of jail.

House Bill 10 would change that and require all sheriffs to hold people when ICE issues a detainer request.

Under current legislation, eight local sheriffs including McFadden see the detainer request as part of a voluntary program and say if the federal government wanted to hold a person, a federal complaint would be issued.

McFadden notes the proposed law will have local law enforcement playing a larger role in the immigration debate, and victims of crimes may never see justice.

“What do we say to them,” adds McFadden. “Because we are going to drop the charges and we’re going to deport them back. And what happens, there is nothing to stop them from coming back to the United States, and when they come back to the United States, they have not been convicted of anything. So we are creating a lot of problems that we don’t clearly understand and those problems are going to rest on the shoulders of local law enforcement and our local sheriff’s offices.”

Queen City News reached out to lawmakers in Raleigh for comment on House Bill 10, but have not heard back.

A public hearing on the legislation is scheduled for Tuesday.

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