N.C. Republicans file bill requiring state to comply with federal immigration law

Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly filed a bill on Monday that would require state agencies, local governments and UNC System schools to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Senate Bill 153, titled the North Carolina Border Protection Act, aims to address concerns about the presence of undocumented immigrants in the state. Bill sponsor and N.C. Sen. Phil Berger (R-Guilford, Rockingham) cited violent crime and strain on state-funded public benefits as motivation for introducing the bill in a press release. 

“Now that we have a federal government that is taking border control seriously, we need to do our part at the state level and ensure that our citizens are protected from criminal, illegal immigrants,” N.C. Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Buncombe, Burke, McDowell) said in the press release.

The bill's primary sponsors did not respond to The Daily Tar Heel's request for comment. 

Louay Shakra is a small business owner who immigrated to the United States from Lebanon in 2015.  He said he is opposed to illegal immigration and believes the law should be obeyed.

“You don't know how much I feel upset because I came here a legal way, and I saw others coming illegally,” Shakra said. 

Shakra also said he believes that, if passed into law, this bill will not negatively impact him or other legal immigrants.

N.C. Sen. Graig Meyer (D-Caswell, Orange, Person) opposes the bill, saying that it would generate unnecessary expenses for state agencies. Meyer said undocumented immigrants are already not eligible to receive state services, and that sanctuary city policies are prohibited under current state law.

“We shouldn't be wasting our money trying to prevent something from happening that's not happening,” Meyer said. “We have real problems to solve.”

The NCGA passed a bill in November requiring all sheriffs to cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

UNC Law Professor Rick Su said that the federal government cannot force state officials to enforce federal law, but laws such as this one can stop local governments and state agencies from prohibiting cooperation with ICE. He said law enforcement officers cannot be prevented from working with ICE, but they also cannot be compelled to do so.

One provision of the bill requires state agencies to determine the immigration status of anyone in their custody. Meyer said the provision is impractical and potentially unconstitutional, opening the door for racial profiling.

“I always sort of joke in [my] class that the most undocumented population is actually U.S. citizens,” Su said. He said that most Americans’ citizenship is only documented in their birth certificate, which most do not carry with them in public.

“My impression is, frankly, that this is probably a bill to stir up uncertainty and to use this kind of robust immigration enforcement rhetoric as a political tool in alignment with what we're seeing from the Trump administration at large,” UNC Law student and Immigration Law Association President Avery Fletcher said. 

Su also said the bill represents a departure from traditional conservative thinking. 

“Conservatism used to be about decentralizing power,” Su said. “It used to be about less power in Washington, more power in local communities.”

Fletcher also said that North Carolina’s agriculture industry depends heavily on undocumented workers.

"If [the bill] doesn't necessarily sweep up every undocumented farm worker, it has the potential to chill people's desire to go to work, and that can also hurt people's wallets,” Fletcher said.

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