Alamance County Sheriff's Office ends agreement to house and move ICE detainees

ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson has announced they will no longer accept Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees.

In a Facebook post, Sheriff Johnson cited recent changes to North Carolina law brought about by the NC House Bill 307 (Iryna's Law) governing pretrial release, electronic monitoring, and detention of individuals charged with violent offenses taking effect on December 1.

The bill was named in memory of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed to death on a Charlotte light-rail train last month in an attack that sparked outrage nationwide.

"These changes materially affect our ability to manage classification, housing, and supervision of detainees in our facility and will require us to prioritize bed space and resources for local and state inmates and remain compliant with state law and court directives,' said Sheriff Johnson.

The changes in state law and the associated operational constraints mean ACSO Detention Center will be unable to continue housing and transporting ICE detainees on a "space available" basis.