What do we know about North Carolina's HB 10 bill that would force sheriffs to collaborate with ICE (2024)

Through Factchequeado WhatsApp (+1 (646) 873 60 87) they asked us to find out about the North Carolina HB 10 bill and asked if it is in force: “There are people who say that HB10 in NC is already active and that they are going to remove all the immigrants.”

Related> Why is HB10 an anti-immigrant and dangerous law?

🔎 We investigated and found that:

1 - El HB 10 project It is not law yet. By May 9, 2024, it had not received final approval from Congress to then be sent to the governor's desk and be signed into law or vetoed. But be careful: Republican congressmen (who support the project) have a majority in both chambers of the Legislature, so this could change. Furthermore, it is important that you know that if the governor, Roy Cooper, of the Democratic Party, vetoes the bill, even so Republican congressmen could force it to become law because they have enough majority in both chambers (⅗ of members) to override the Governor's veto.

2 - But also pay attention to this point: the project does not propose “removing all immigrants.” What it establishes is the obligation for all North Carolina sheriffs to find out the immigration status of certain people they detain (depending on the charges) and collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Related> What are the legal implications of HB10?

This is what North Carolina HB 10 states

La first section of the project, titled “legal status of prisoners,” states:

“When any person is confined for any period in a county jail, local confinement facility, district confinement center, satellite jail, or work release unit, the administrator or other person in charge of the facility shall attempt to determine whether the prisoner is a legal resident of the United States by inquiry of the prisoner, or by examination of any relevant documents, or both".

That section adds that if through these methods it is not possible to establish the immigration status of the detainee, then the prison authorities must “make a consultation with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service of the United States Department of Homeland Security,” that is, to ICE.

Under the proposal, immigration status verification will apply to those accused of certain serious crimes (felonies) or some minor crimes (misdemeanors). For example, every crime under category of assault (aggression) qualifies, according to the current wording of the standard. Also for domestic violence, possession of illicit substances with intent to distribute, violation, human trafficking, robo, among others. In the current status of the project (which has gone through several amendments) the phrase that required reviewing immigration status when a person was accused of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI) was eliminated.

The bill establishes that if ICE informs jail authorities that the person does not have legal permission to be in the United States, then they will detain him or her for a maximum of 48 hours or until ICE takes custody of the detainee. They would also release the person if ICE reports that there is no detention requirement against them and they have no judicial reason to keep them detained.

Currently, each sheriff has the freedom to choose to collaborate or not with ICE. In fact, Enlace Latino NC, half ally of Factchequeado, interviewed several sheriffs who stated that forcing them to collaborate with ICE would cause distrust in immigrant communities towards the police.

You can track the status of HB 10 at the official website of the Legislature.

In Georgia, on May 2, 2024, a similar bill approved by the Republican majority of that state's Legislature was signed into law by Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

______________

Factchequeado is a means of verification that builds a Spanish-speaking community to counteract misinformation in the United States.

Related