More NC state agencies sign ICE cooperation deals. See the documents and details

RALEIGH, N.C. — Agencies required under a bill passed by Republican state lawmakers to sign agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — which allow their officers to carry out immigration enforcement duties typically performed by federal agents — have now done so.

On Tuesday, The News & Observer reported that the State Highway Patrol, one of the required agencies, had signed its agreement.

ICE’s website shows that the Highway Patrol signed its agreement on Sunday, Sept. 27. Unlike the listings for other agencies, the entry does not yet link to the agreement itself, but it identifies the agreement as a “Task Force Model,” which allows officers to use limited immigration enforcement authority during routine police work, such as traffic stops, and to take part in ICE-led task forces, according to the agency’s website.

The other two models, the Jail Enforcement Model and the Warrant Service Officer Program, apply only to people already in jail or state custody, per ICE’s site.

At the time, the website did not show any of the other required agencies as having signed their agreements. It did, however, list 31 state and local law enforcement agencies across North Carolina that have signed similar agreements, known as memorandums of agreement, with ICE. Most are county sheriff’s offices, along with a few municipal police departments.

The N&O reached out Tuesday to the Highway Patrol, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Adult Correction and the State Bureau of Investigation to request information.

The four agencies are required under Senate Bill 153, sponsored by Republican Senate leader Phil Berger, to sign such agreements through the ICE 287(g) program. A provision added in this year’s state budget required agencies to submit their agreements and policies to a legislative oversight committee by Thursday, Oct. 1.

The bill became law in June after Republican lawmakers overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.

The Highway Patrol has not responded to requests for the documents or provided a statement.

The departments of Adult Correction and Public Safety provided documents confirming they’ve signed their agreements, though ICE’s website did not list them as of Wednesday afternoon.

Adult Correction signed the narrower type, a Warrant Service Officer agreement, which lets trained prison staff serve and execute immigration warrants.

DPS’s agreement, a Task Force Model, covers only its Alcohol Law Enforcement division.

An SBI spokesman confirmed that the agency had signed onto an agreement and expected to meet lawmakers’ deadline.

The new law on these agreements follows legislation enacted in 2024 over the veto of former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper that required sheriffs in all 100 counties to comply with ICE detainer requests, which ask jails to hold someone so ICE can take custody.

Republicans supported both measures, which drew opposition from Democrats and immigrant advocates.

Details on Department of Public Safety agreement

The signed agreement covering Alcohol Law Enforcement, shared with The N&O by the Department of Public Safety, shows that ALE Director Bryan House signed it on Monday, as did Russell Hott, an ICE assistant director.

The agreement lets trained ALE agents, working under ICE supervision, question anyone they believe isn’t a U.S. citizen about their immigration status.

Agents can arrest people for whom ICE has already issued warrants, and in some cases can make arrests without a warrant, such as when they believe someone is in the country without legal documentation and likely to flee.

Agents can take sworn statements and gather evidence, fingerprint and photograph people, and start deportation paperwork. They can also ask jails to hold people for ICE and take people to ICE detention centers.

While the agreement grants broader powers to trained agents, DPS also shared an operational guidelines document, signed and published Wednesday, according to an agency spokesperson, that says ALE agents will check immigration status only after arresting someone and not during traffic stops or business inspections. It also has other limitations.

“The MOA establishes the authority available to appropriately trained and designated ALE agents, while ALE’s directive provides the operational guidelines agents will follow in exercising that authority, including the limitations,” said DPS spokesperson Jody Donaldson in an email.

Details on Adult Correction’s agreement

Adult Correction, which runs North Carolina’s prisons, signed a Warrant Service Officer agreement on Monday.

Keith Acree, a DAC spokesman, shared a copy of the signed agreement, which shows DAC Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes signed it Monday and Hott signed it for ICE on Tuesday.

“NCDAC is committed to the safety of all North Carolinians including those who may have immigrated here from other countries. NCDAC has a long history of sharing information and interacting with a variety of federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE,” Acree said on behalf of DAC.

Acree said DAC already works with ICE in several ways, such as sharing information about people in prison and on probation through a database, including what country they say they’re from, letting ICE agents meet with people in prison and, when asked, giving ICE 48 hours’ notice before someone is released. The department also honors ICE detainers, which are requests to take custody of someone once their state sentence ends, he said.

The agreement allows trained prison staff to arrest people on ICE’s behalf on the day they’re scheduled to be released from state prison, using an ICE warrant. Staff can also serve deportation orders from ICE and, if ICE asks, take people to an immigration detention center.