House Speaker , Destin Hall , filed legislation Wednesday that would involve officers to inform national immigration officials before releasing people being held at those officers ‘ demand.
Hall previously led the charge in the , GOP-controlled government to adopt legislation requiring officers to recognize the detainer calls submitted by , U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, asking local law enforcement to temporarily hold people under arrest who are believed to be in the state illegally, to provide ICE time to take guardianship of them.
The new policy Hall filed Wednesday,  , House Bill 318, seeks to address an problem that arose in , Mecklenburg County , after those rules of House Bill 10 went into effect next month.
HB 10 required sheriffs, after they receive a ejectment ask for someone in their prison, to take the person before a state criminal official, provide them with the detainer, and , keep them for up to 48 hours , after the criminal official issues an order directing them to do so.
Individuals being held on detainers can only be held for 48 hours or until ICE agents take custody or rescind the detainer — whichever happens first.
Mecklenburg County , Sheriff , Garry McFadden, who opposed HB 10 and urged lawmakers to reject the bill before it was enacted last year, has drawn criticism for not notifying the agency before releasing an individual held in his jail on a detainer.
McFadden has said his office is complying with ICE’s detainer requests, but that ICE hasn’t been communicating with his deputies and , failed to take custody of a Honduran national in January , within the 48-hour window prescribed by state law. The man had been charged with domestic violence, and had been deported twice before.
ICE spokesman , Lindsay Williams  , told the , Charlotte Observer , last month that the agency requires a notification, either a phone call or an email, 48 hours before individuals held on detainers are released from jail.
Williams said that some sheriffs in the state already make that phone call to ICE, in addition to the initial notice the agency receives when local law enforcement tells ICE they’ve booked someone in their jails whose citizenship or legal status can’t be determined.
McFadden has disputed that under current state law, he’s required or obligated to make that additional phone call.
Hall has said the issue in , Mecklenburg County , prompted lawmakers to examine the law they passed last year and determine if it needs to be revised to additionally require the notification ICE requests.
The new House speaker said last month he views the refusal to inform the agency before release” as an effort to get around trying to help the federal authorities enforce immigration law”.
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