North Carolina County Changes Immigration Policy by Voting to Oust Its Sheriff

During the week of February 9, 2017, fear bled through the Latino community in East Charlotte, North Carolina, after social media reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was conducting roundup-style immigration raids, and had taken dozens of undocumented immigrants into custody. At the time, ICE spokesperson Bryan Cox disputed the reports, telling the Charlotte Observer that they had likely surfaced because “everyone's attention is focused on this issue recently.”

It turned out that Charlotte’s Latino community had good reason to focus on immigration raids that week. The following Monday, ICE released a fact sheet that said immigration agents had arrested 84 people in North Carolina as a part of nationwide targeted enforcement operations. This is not necessarily new in North Carolina: Since 2015, deportations in the state have been increasing steadily. A big reason for this is the 287(g) program, which gives local police officers immigration enforcement powers in jails, out in the field, or both. Six North Carolina counties are currently using 287(g), including Mecklenburg County, which contains Charlotte.