RALEIGH, N.C. — Democratic Gov. Josh Stein issued the first vetoes of his term on Friday, including blocking two Republican bills that sought to bolster law enforcement cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a statement, Stein said he vetoed one of the bills, which would have required state law enforcement agencies to enter cooperation agreements with ICE, because “at a time when our law enforcement is already stretched thin, this bill takes state law enforcement officers away from their existing state duties and forces them to act as federal immigration agents.”

The Democratic governor said he was blocking the other bill, which would have required sheriffs honoring immigration detention requests issued by ICE to notify the agency before releasing those individuals, because it would have required sheriffs to hold people beyond the time they would otherwise be released.

Stein said he was supportive of “the bill’s efforts to require sheriffs to contact federal immigration authorities about people in their custody charged with sexual battery, armed robbery, arson, assault on public officials and court personnel, and other dangerous crimes.” Still, he argued, the bill’s temporary detention requirements would violate constitutional rights.

One bill passed along party lines; one had a Democratic supporter

The bill Stein vetoed that would have required state-level cooperation with ICE, Senate Bill 153, passed entirely along party lines in the General Assembly, with Democrats united in opposing it.

For Republicans to override Stein’s veto, they would have to gain the support of at least one Democrat — or exploit the absence of a Democratic member.

The other bill, House Bill 318, notably received support from one Democrat, Rep. Carla Cunningham of Charlotte. House Speaker Destin Hall, the bill’s primary sponsor, previously told The News & Observer that he felt Cunningham would likely join Republicans to defeat a veto if Stein were to block the bill.

Hall had also repeatedly called on Stein to sign the bill into law, including on Friday morning, hours before Stein announced his decisions on both bills. In a social media post, Hall said his bill was “common-sense policy,” and said Stein “needs to do the right thing and protect law abiding North Carolinians.”

After Stein vetoed both bills, Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger, the primary sponsor of SB 153, released statements slamming the governor for his decisions.

“Governor Stein has made one thing clear today: he stands with criminal illegal aliens and the most radical elements of his party’s base over the safety and security of North Carolinians,” Hall said in a statement about the veto of his bill. “Make no mistake, the NC House will override the Governor’s veto at the earliest opportunity.”

Hall’s office pointed out that his bill has support from multiple law enforcement organizations including the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association, N.C. Troopers Association, N.C. Fraternal Order of Police, and N.C. Police Benevolent Association.

Berger said the veto of his bill showed that Stein would “rather prioritize his far-left donors and their dangerous open-border policies over the citizens of North Carolina who are desperately pleading for us to put an end to the illegal immigration crisis.”

He added: “I look forward to the Senate overriding his veto.”

What would the two ICE cooperation bills do?

SB 153 would have required four state law enforcement agencies to participate in the federal 287(g) program, which allows state and local officers to carry out immigration actions usually done by federal agents, under ICE’s training and supervision.

Officers from the N.C. Departments of Public Safety and Adult Correction, the State Highway Patrol and the State Bureau of Investigation — executive branch agencies which are overseen by Stein — would all have been required to enter the program.

SB 153 would’ve also directed state agencies to ensure unauthorized immigrants do not receive a variety of state-funded benefits, such as housing assistance or unemployment — though they are already largely ineligible for these programs.

Another provision of the bill would have allowed local governments that approve what it describes as sanctuary policies for immigrants to be sued if a person in the country without legal authorization commits a crime in their jurisdiction.

HB 318, on the other hand, seeks to revise House Bill 10, the major ICE cooperation bill the GOP enacted last year over former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto, which focused on sheriffs.

The bill requires sheriffs to notify ICE before they release anyone in their custody who the agency is seeking with an immigration detainer.

HB 318 would also require sheriffs to attempt to determine the immigration status of anyone charged with a felony or drunk driving. Previous legislation narrowed this requirement to only people charged with high-level violent crimes.

Months of calls for Stein to stand up to ICE

Stein took action on both bills on the last of 10 days he’s allowed to decide whether to sign a bill, let it become law without his signature, or veto it, once it has passed both chambers and is sent to his desk.

In the days leading up to Friday, a number of different groups of protesters held multiple rallies outside the governor’s mansion in downtown Raleigh demanding Stein veto both bills.

During one protest on Wednesday, speakers called on Stein to “do what’s right” and block both bills, and led the crowd in chants of “Stein, get a spine.”

Organizers of another protest demanded that Stein “breaks his cowardly silence regarding these bills and puts the people of our community first, protecting our immigrant coworkers, friends, and neighbors.”

“Our demand is simple: Governor Stein must veto these bills and prove he’s not just another politician willing to sacrifice immigrant communities for political convenience,” protest organizer Nicole Drapluk, from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said in a statement. “If he chooses to ignore us, he will be remembered as the governor who stood by while families were torn apart. Either he stands with the people, or he stands with the deportation machine.”

The N.C. Democratic Party also condemned both bills on Thursday, saying in an unsigned statement that the party opposes “two anti-immigrant proposals that do nothing to make our communities safer and threaten to divide neighbors.”

The statement called on North Carolinians “to stand with our immigrant communities,” and said that North Carolina Democrats “must work together to earn the trust of the immigrant communities and defend our values that are under attack.”

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