Top NC Republican files bill forcing sheriffs to notify ICE before release from jail
House Speaker Destin Hall filed legislation Wednesday that would require sheriffs to notify federal immigration authorities before releasing anyone being held at those officials’ request.
Hall previously led the charge in the GOP-controlled legislature to enact legislation requiring sheriffs to honor the detainer requests submitted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, asking local law enforcement to temporarily hold people under arrest who are believed to be in the country illegally, to give ICE time to take custody of them.
The new legislation Hall filed Wednesday, House Bill 318, seeks to address an issue that arose in Mecklenburg County after those provisions of House Bill 10 went into effect last year.
HB 10 required sheriffs, after they receive a detainer request for someone in their custody, to take the person before a state judicial official, present them with the detainer, and hold them for up to 48 hours after the judicial official issues an order directing them to do so.
Individuals being held on detainers can only be held for 48 hours or until ICE agents take custody or rescind the detainer — whichever happens first.
McFadden disputes how far ICE notification responsibility goes
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, who opposed HB 10 and urged lawmakers to reject the bill before it was enacted last year, has drawn criticism for not notifying the agency before releasing an individual held in his jail on a detainer.
McFadden has said his office is complying with ICE’s detainer requests, but that ICE hasn’t been communicating with his deputies and failed to take custody of a Honduran national in January within the 48-hour window prescribed by state law. The man had been charged with domestic violence, and had been deported twice before.
ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams told the Charlotte Observer last month that the agency requires a notification, either a phone call or an email, 48 hours before individuals held on detainers are released from jail.
Williams said that some sheriffs in the state already make that phone call to ICE, in addition to the initial notice the agency receives when local law enforcement tells ICE they’ve booked someone in their jails whose citizenship or legal status can’t be determined.
McFadden has disputed that under current state law, he’s required or obligated to make that additional phone call.
After the bill was filed on Wednesday, McFadden told the Charlotte Observer that the main issue for his office is the lack of communication by ICE after the detainer has been issued. McFadden said that once he receives the detainer, ICE should be ready to take custody of the person they’re pursuing within 48 hours, as HB 10 requires.
Hall has said the issue in Mecklenburg County prompted lawmakers to examine the law they passed last year and determine if it needs to be revised to additionally require the notification ICE requests.
The new House speaker said last month he views the refusal to inform the agency before release “as an effort to get around trying to help the federal authorities enforce immigration law.”
New bill would cover ICE queries for more offenses
In addition to requiring the notification before release, the new bill filed by Hall on Wednesday also expands the criminal offenses that require sheriffs to try to determine the legal status of the person under arrest, and notify ICE if they can’t.
HB 10 covered certain high-level offenses like homicide, rape and other sex offenses, kidnapping, and human trafficking, but HB 318 filed this session would add burglary and theft, embezzlement, fraud, forgery and drunk driving to the list.
In a statement, Hall said his new bill is intended to send the message that “North Carolina will not be a sanctuary for criminal illegal aliens, and protecting our citizens remains our top priority.”
Hall’s spearheading of the bill means it will likely move quickly. It’s one of two immigration enforcement bills GOP lawmakers have introduced this session.
In the upper chamber, Senate leader Phil Berger introduced his own bill with the backing of his entire caucus to increase state-level cooperation with ICE.
That bill, which was passed by the Senate on Tuesday and is now in the House, requires certain state agencies to participate in ICE’s 287(g) program that allows federal agents to delegate immigration enforcement duties to trained state law enforcement officers.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Top NC Republican files bill forcing sheriffs to notify ICE before release from jail."
