President Donald Trump is taking the fight to America’s so-called “sanctuary cities.” North Carolina recently became the epicenter of the conflict between state and federal authorities when several counties stopped cooperating with immigration officials, prompting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Regional Director Sean Gallagher to take matters into his own hands.
ICE arrested at least 200 undocumented immigrants last week in a statewide operation that agents are calling the “new normal.”
The new normal
“This is the direct conclusion of dangerous policies of not cooperating with ICE,” said Gallagher, the top immigration official in the Carolinas and Georgia. “This forces my officers to go out onto the street to conduct more enforcement.”
Local sheriffs from some of North Carolina’s most populous counties campaigned in 2018 on a pledge to stop cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Police in jurisdictions like Mecklenburg, Wake, McFadden and Durham counties used to notify ICE when they had an illegal immigrant in custody, flagging prisoners under the government’s 287(g) program.
Local deputies would previously cross-check the names of recently detained inmates against a federal database, identifying undocumented immigrants and holding them in place until ICE officials could arrive and begin deportation proceedings. For years, the program was a monumental success across the state, and 1,200 criminal aliens were detained through this system in Mecklenburg County alone last year.
Hitting the streets
Now, however, because North Carolina progressives would rather protect criminal aliens from deportation than defend their own communities, Gallagher says immigration authorities have “no choice” but to intervene. “This is politics over public safety at its worst,” the regional director noted.
During a four day period last week, ICE agents arrested 200 illegal immigrants throughout the state, mostly via traffic stops. A raid on an arms manufacturing plant in Sanford also netted federal agents an additional 25 immigrant arrests.
Ultimately, the most law-abiding illegal immigrants are the ones who pay the steepest price when progressive lawmakers refuse to cooperate with federal immigration efforts. Instead of mainly targeting undocumented immigrants who break the law and end up in jail, sanctuary cities have forced ICE officers to carry out enforcement activities in neighborhoods.
Almost one-third of immigrants taken into ICE custody during raids last week were considered “collateral” arrests, or arrests involving illegal immigrants who lack a criminal conviction or pending charges. Before North Carolina stopped cooperating with ICE officials, collateral arrests comprised just 10 percent of the total.
Gallagher blamed the rise in arrests of relatively law-abiding but illegal immigrants on the lack of cooperation from county sheriffs. “If they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, my officers will take an enforcement action,” he said.
Crime spree
Of course, the undocumented immigrants detained during traffic stops and in local neighborhoods still broke the law when they decided to enter the country illegally, taking the place of a refugee or a legal immigrant applying for citizenship.
Additionally, ICE stops a shocking number of undocumented immigrants with criminal records during random stops at traffic control points. Of the 200 illegal aliens arrested last week across the state, 25 percent had criminal records, 20 percent had pending charges, and another quarter failed to respond to deportation orders.
Last week’s operation isn’t just an unfortunate byproduct of sanctuary cities. ICE agents are removing foreign criminals through their law enforcement operations, whether these are carried out in U.S. jails or on the streets.
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