Advocates concerned about NC bill that compels state law enforcement to cooperate with ICE

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Advocates for immigrants illegally in the United States met with state lawmakers over the Border Protection Act.

Senate Bill 153 passed that chamber on Tuesday and is headed to the House.

The legislation would require state law enforcement to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

It would also make sure state money is solely being used for people in the country legally, allow counties and cities to face lawsuits should they adopt sanctuary policies, and prohibit University of North Carolina System schools from adopting policies to restrict state immigration laws.

"North Carolinians are seeing the harmful impacts of open-border policies - from dangerous drug trafficking to criminal, illegal immigrants being released from jail to roam our streets freely," Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said Tuesday. "North Carolinians made it clear that they will no longer tolerate sanctuary policies that put them at risk. We must send an equally strong message by requiring Gov. (Josh) Stein's administration to cooperate with immigration officials."

Berger, State Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, and State Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, introduced SB 153.

"It's past time for North Carolina cities and counties to be held accountable for harmful sanctuary city policies," Newton said. "We've seen families across the country suffer because of these policies and the North Carolina Border Protection Act gives citizens the ability to go after those cities and counties that have for far too long defied state law."

The Trump Administration has stated immigration officers are prioritizing detaining violent criminals, but opponents of the bill say this broadens the scope of who could be affected.

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"It gives a reason for local law enforcement that is already swamped with all of their different kinds of roles and duties they have to carry out now on top of that are being asked to fulfill something that's out of their jurisdiction, that actually causes a lot of harm and distrust to those agencies," said Kelly Morales, of Siembra NC, a left-leaning advocacy group.

During a news conference Wednesday morning, Siembra NC highlighted stories of three men who live in North Carolina that were detained while working out of state after being stopped for relatively minor violations. In two cases, they allegedly missed a weigh station; the third was stopped for speeding.

Their families said all three men have no prior criminal records.

ABC11 has reached out to ICE for more information about these cases but has not yet heard back.

"It doesn't matter if you live in Murphy or Manteo, you're still feeling the impacts of the Biden-era open border policies," Daniel said. "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."