GOP Plan Will Make Immigrants Feel Unsafe, Advocates Argue
On Flashpoint, immigration advocates say they have concerns of racial profiling.
By Ben Thompson April 28, 2024
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As state lawmakers reconvene this week in Raleigh with a Republican supermajority, GOP senators are still considering a law that would force local sheriff’s departments to help federal immigration agents in detaining people believed to be undocumented.
The measure previously passed in the North Carolina House.
Immigration advocates like Carolina Migrant Network Co-Director Stefania Arteaga called the bill “concerning.”
“We have extreme concerns around racial profiling and civil rights concerns,” Arteaga said on WCNC’s Flashpoint.
It’s a bill Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said his office opposes.
McFadden said it puts an additional burden on law enforcement. He stopped a previous program, 287-G, that allowed deputies to work with federal immigration agents on detentions.
Republicans have argued innocent people are put in danger when local agencies won’t cooperate with federal immigration officials. Still, Arteaga argues the bill has a chilling effect on the local immigrant community.
“North Carolina heavily relies on immigrant labor, whether it’s through the hog industry, or in the construction industry, you’re right here at home,” Arteaga said, adding, “So, we are going to see migrant workers, or immigrants in general, that will not feel safe in North Carolina.”