CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The ongoing battle of sanctuary cities continues in North Carolina.
- A sanctuary city is a city, county, or state that limits its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents in order to protect immigrants from deportation
- The governor vetoed House Bill 370 in August
- Sen. Tillis' bill would allow lawsuits to come against cities where law enforcement is not complying with ICE detainers
Lawmakers gathered in the Queen City to announce a new legislation that would help ban them. Senators Thom Tillis, Chuck Grassley along with Rep. Dan Bishop were among the lawmakers who held the news conference.
A sanctuary city is a city, county, or state that limits its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents in order to protect immigrants from deportation. Sen. Tillis has been vocal about the negative impact he says sanctuary cities have on public safety.
“Is it fair to hold an alleged murderer, heroin trafficker, someone who’s been accused of indecent liberties with a child for a 48-hour period who’s illegally in the country and is a deportable illegal alien? Yeah, I think that’s fair,” Sen. Tillis said.
"We've got to make sure that our state is welcoming to all kinds of people. We've got to make sure that people are protected from crime. That means people who are documented and undocumented," Gov. Cooper said.
The governor vetoed House Bill 370, an act to require compliance with immigrant detainers and administrative warrants for local law enforcement in August. Sen. Tillis' bill would allow lawsuits to come against cities where law enforcement is not complying with ICE detainers.