Let the ICE raids commence.
Via Citizen Times:
Weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more than 200 people in a statewide operation then vowed a “more visible presence” in North Carolina, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office is significantly altering its relationship with the federal agency.
Sheriff Quentin Miller announced Tuesday that his office, which operates the county’s 608-bed jail, will no longer honor ICE detainers — holds placed on inmates who federal immigration officials suspect are in the country illegally.
“The sheriff’s office will continue to comply with all applicable state and federal laws, however, we do not make or enforce immigration laws; that is not part of our law enforcement duties,” Miller said.
“It is vital that members of our immigrant community can call the sheriff’s office without fear when they are in need of assistance from law enforcement.”
An ICE detainer requests that law enforcement agencies continue to hold people arrested on criminal charges up to 48 hours beyond when they would’ve otherwise been released from jail. The purpose of these holds is “to allow (the Department of Homeland Security) to assume custody for removal purposes,” according to a statement on ICE’s website.
Detainers versus criminal warrants
Miller on Tuesday drew a line between detainers and criminal arrest warrants, which he said said his office will continue to honor. If ICE — or any other law enforcement agency — takes out a warrant on a Buncombe County inmate, the sheriff said “that person will be handed over to that agency.”
ICE requested holds on six people in the county jail during between Dec. 1-Jan. 15. The agency took two of those people into custody, according to sheriff spokesman Aaron Sarver.
During 2018, ICE requested holds on 38 people in the Buncombe County jail, Miller said Tuesday morning. ICE picked up 20 of those 38.
Daryl Fisher, who’s in charge of the jail, said the county received no financial compensation from ICE.
ICE operations in NC this monthMiller’s announcement comes at the end of what has been a turbulent month for North Carolina’s immigrant community. During the first week of February, ICE agents arrested more than 200 people concentrated mainly in the state’s two most populous counties, both of which had recently severed their 287g agreements with the federal agency.
Those agreements essentially deputized local detention officers, giving them the ability to handle some immigration matters pertaining to inmates and allowing ICE a greater foothold in county jails.