Republican lawmakers in the North Carolina House voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with federal authorities when arresting illegal immigrants.
It also expands the school voucher scheme.
House Bill 10 passed 72 to 44 in the House on Nov. 19, mainly along party lines.
The bill will go to the Senate on Nov. 20, where Republicans are expected to vote to override the veto as well.
Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers, which will likely allow them to override Cooper’s veto signed in late September.
A supermajority means three-fifths of the seats in both the state Senate and House are controlled by one party, a situation currently enjoyed by Republicans in North Carolina.
That means the caucus alone can override an executive veto, so the bill can become law.
The bill requires sheriffs to alert Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when a person in their custody charged with a violent crime or felony is suspected of being in the country illegally.
It mandates that judicial officials must order law enforcement to hold the inmate in question for 48 hours.
It also funds more school vouchers, which Democrats hotly contested.
Under the legislation, some $463 million will be allocated to the Opportunity Scholarship program. The measure also includes $160 million to address enrollment growth in community colleges and K-12 public schools.
Advocates for the illegal immigration portion of the bill said it was needed because some sheriffs in predominantly Democrat counties have disregarded ICE detainers in the past.
Caldwell County Republican and bill sponsor Rep. Destin Hall said a handful of sheriff departments in the state were releasing jail inmates without alerting ICE.
“And we’ve seen people go on to re-offend as a result of that,” he said before the vote.
The legislation comes on the heels of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on Nov. 5, where stopping illegal immigration was a key part of his campaign.
Trump promised mass deportations during his second term—which Hall referenced during the House debate as a reason to support the bill.
Critics of the bill say forcing sheriffs to hold inmates creates an unnecessary burden.
Abe Jones, a Democrat representing Wake County, said the sheriff in his county was already under-resourced and should not have to coordinate with ICE.
“ICE is federal law, and the federal government gets plenty of our tax money to hire whoever they need to enforce those laws,” Jones said.
“I say, tell ICE to do ICE’s work,” he said.
As for school vouchers, Democrat Rep. Julie von Haefen criticized Republicans for putting money into vouchers instead of using it to help the victims of Hurricane Helene.
“People in western North Carolina are just now getting water to drink,” Von Haefan said. “We have the money to help them survive, but instead, we’re giving it away to the wealthiest families in our state.”
However, Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham called the scenario, which paints the voucher program as taking money away from hurricane relief, a “false choice.”
Cotham said the voucher program would allow parents with children trapped in failing schools to give them a better education.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
