The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service Processing Center in El Centro, Calif. (Stock photo by Matt Gush/Getty Images)
A North Carolina Senate committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would require state law enforcement agencies to cooperate more closely with federal immigration authorities.
The Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee voted to give a favorable report to Senate Bill 153, the “North Carolina Border Protection Act,” sending the bill to the Rules Committee.
The bill, cosponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, would require that state agencies like the Department of Public Safety and Highway Patrol enter into agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to assist with immigration enforcement.
It would also require state law enforcement agencies to determine the immigration status of anyone in their custody. The bill also includes a provision directing the state budget office to audit public benefit programs to ensure they are not providing services to undocumented immigrants, despite federal law that already bars participation by undocumented individuals.
Durham Democratic Senator Sophia Chitlik raised concerns that the benefit provision could have a “disproportionate impact” on children in mixed-status families where some members are U.S. citizens, calling on the committee to remove the section on auditing public benefits.
The bill also faced opposition from civil liberties groups who argued it would erode trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement. Samantha Salkin, Policy Analyst for ACLU of North Carolina argued the bill “is an attack on immigrant communities and an attempt to further the false narrative that immigrants are a drain on our public service system and pose a threat to public safety.”
Salkin said the legislation “is likely to result in U.S. citizens having reduced access to essential services” and erode trust between immigrants and law enforcement.