Although immigration laws fall under the exclusive authority of the federal government, states have the power to legislate on public safety, employment, access to state benefits and the operation of local agencies. In North Carolina, those powers have been used in recent years to advance measures considered anti-immigrant. These laws strengthen collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), expand immigration verification mechanisms and tighten requirements for employers and public agencies.
The result is not a single immigration law, but a set of laws passed at different times that, taken together, put immigrants’ quality of life and safety in the state at risk.
Below are the main laws passed by the General Assembly and what they mean for the immigrant community.
HB 10: the law that made cooperation between jails and ICE mandatory
HB 10, enacted in 2024, marked a turning point in North Carolina. Before it took effect, cooperation between sheriffs and ICE depended largely on the policy adopted by each sheriff’s office: some counties actively collaborated with the federal agency, while others limited that cooperation.
With HB 10, that discretion disappeared for certain cases. The law, in effect since Dec. 1, 2024, requires sheriffs to verify the immigration status of people arrested for certain offenses and, when applicable, notify ICE. It also requires compliance with administrative detention requests (“detainers”) issued by the federal agency.
In practice, if a person is arrested for one of the offenses covered by the law and the sheriff cannot confirm that the person is a U.S. citizen or has legal immigration status, the sheriff must contact ICE. If the agency issues a detainer, the jail must follow a judicial procedure that may result in the person remaining detained for up to an additional 48 hours while ICE decides whether to take the person into custody.
The legislation does not apply to every arrest. The offenses included cover certain drug-related offenses, weapons offenses, assaults, sex offenses, domestic violence and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
One of the most frequently asked questions since the law was passed has been what happens with minor traffic violations. HB 10 does not require sheriffs to verify immigration status when a person is arrested solely for minor violations or for offenses not included on the legislation’s list. However, immigrant advocacy organizations and attorneys note that, even before this law, some people ended up in immigration proceedings after initially being detained for minor violations, especially when previous 287(g) agreements were in effect.
HB 318: an expansion of cooperation with ICE
Less than a year later, the General Assembly went a step further. The Senate approved HB 318. Although Gov. Josh Stein vetoed it because he considered it unconstitutional, the Republican bloc in the General Assembly overrode that veto, and the law took effect Oct. 1, 2025.
HB 318 does not replace HB 10: it expands it. It broadens the circumstances in which sheriffs are required to cooperate with ICE and further reduces the discretion of local authorities. Immigration attorney William Vásquez, interviewed by Enlace Latino NC, summarized the difference:
“HB 318 is basically forcing all sheriffs to honor an ICE detainer for offenses that previously did not create that obligation. They no longer have any kind of discretion.”
The law adds new conduct to the HB 10 list, including other felonies and certain cases of sexual assault. Another important change is that cooperation can be triggered from the moment of arrest, not after a conviction: it is enough for a person to be arrested for one of the offenses covered for the process to be triggered, regardless of how the criminal case ultimately ends. That point is one of those most questioned by immigration attorneys.
Vásquez warned that this can have serious consequences when there are police errors or false accusations: “Unfortunately, the law does not make exceptions for mistakes. The immigration system does not ask whether it was fair or not, only whether there is a detainer. That is the darkest part of this law: a mistake can turn into the separation of a family.”
One of the most significant changes is that HB 318 requires all counties in the state to follow the same procedure, including those whose sheriffs previously chose to limit cooperation with ICE. As Vásquez explained: “These laws are very specific in forcing all counties to operate in the same way. There is no discretion. Wherever you are arrested, they are going to do the same thing.”
The impact of HB 318 goes beyond the legal sphere. The attorney warned that it may also increase immigrants’ fear of interacting with authorities, even when they are victims of a crime: “If I am the victim of a crime, now I don’t know if I want to call the police.” That fear, he said, could result in fewer reports and, consequently, higher levels of impunity.
SB 153: the broadest state immigration law so far
While HB 10 and HB 318 changed the relationship between jails and ICE, SB 153 (known as the “North Carolina Border Protection Act”) represents a much broader change, bringing together in a single text measures on law enforcement cooperation, public benefits, housing, universities and sanctuary policies.
Its legislative process was the longest of all these laws: approved by the Senate on June 10, 2025, it was vetoed by Gov. Stein 10 days later, along with HB 318. While the HB 318 veto was overridden in July 2025, the SB 153 veto remained pending for nearly a year: the General Assembly did not override the veto until June 24, 2026, when the law took effect immediately. Several of its provisions, however, still require regulations and internal procedures before they can be fully implemented.
The first part of the law requires four state agencies to sign 287(g) agreements with ICE:
- Department of Public Safety
- Department of Adult Correction
- North Carolina Highway Patrol
- State Bureau of Investigation (SBI)
Participating officers must receive ICE training and act under federal supervision. One of the aspects generating the most uncertainty is how that requirement will be implemented: the law orders the development of internal policies, but does not clarify whether a traffic stop automatically means that a person is “under the supervision” of the Highway Patrol, at what point immigration information may be verified, or what type of 287(g) agreement each agency will sign. Asked by Enlace Latino NC when the Highway Patrol would sign its agreement, House Speaker Destin Hall responded: “I imagine as soon as they can reasonably get it organized,” and clarified that it will depend on the memorandum of understanding agreed upon by both parties.
In any case, SB 153 does not give state officers the authority to deport people. Deportation remains under the exclusive authority of the federal government. What the law does is increase information sharing with ICE and strengthen cooperation mechanisms, which may increase the chances that a person ends up in the federal immigration system.
The second part of the legislation focuses on public benefits. Although undocumented immigrants were already excluded from most state-funded programs, SB 153 directs the Department of Health and Human Services to review eligibility criteria and develop additional immigration verification mechanisms before granting certain benefits: Medicaid (except for emergencies), child care subsidies, housing and rental assistance, energy programs for low-income families, Work First, refugee programs and some mental health and community support programs.
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287(g) agreements: the other key piece of the immigration landscape
The laws passed by the General Assembly are not the only mechanism that has expanded immigration cooperation in North Carolina. In recent years, the state has also become one of those with the most 287(g) agreements between local agencies and ICE.
The 287(g) program allows the federal government to delegate certain immigration functions to local or state agencies, whose officers receive training from ICE and act under federal supervision. Three models exist in North Carolina:
- Jail Enforcement Model (JEM): allows trained officers inside local jails to verify the immigration status of people arrested for state or local offenses and issue holds for ICE. Only three counties — Cabarrus, Gaston and Henderson — maintain this model.
- Warrant Service Officer (WSO): authorizes local officers to serve ICE administrative arrest warrants on people who are already in custody. It is more limited than the JEM because it does not authorize immigration interviews or street patrols. It is the most widespread model in the state.
- Task Force Model (TFM): allows local officers to collaborate in investigations and arrests in the community, outside the jail setting. It is the broadest model and also the most questioned because it extends immigration cooperation into everyday settings such as a traffic stop or police investigation, without the person necessarily being detained.
According to data compiled by The Markup and cross-checked by Enlace Latino NC against official documents, there were 23 active agreements in the state in September 2025, all signed during Donald Trump’s administrations. But the landscape changed rapidly again: since then, six agencies adopted the Task Force model, the most aggressive and until then unprecedented in North Carolina, bringing the total to 29 agreements by March 2026. The figure places North Carolina among the 15 states with the most 287(g) agreements in the country.
That increase in the Task Force model is significant because, unlike the JEM or WSO, which are limited to people already detained in a jail, it allows local officers to enforce immigration laws on the street: during a traffic stop, an investigation or a checkpoint. Immigrant advocacy organizations believe this model may increase fear of reporting crimes, driving, going to public institutions or interacting with police, even when a person needs help.
It is worth noting that, unlike HB 10, HB 318 or SB 153, signing a 287(g) agreement remains a discretionary decision for each sheriff or police department, except now for the four state agencies that SB 153 requires to enter into one. This means the outcome of a local election can determine whether a county joins the program, remains in it or withdraws.
Laws affecting immigrants in North Carolina: debunking myths
One consequence of this type of legislation is the circulation of rumors or incomplete information. That is why it is important to clarify what these laws do and do not do.
They do not change who can obtain a visa, permanent residency, asylum, TPS, DACA or U.S. citizenship. Those decisions remain with the federal government. Nor do they authorize state or local authorities to deport people on their own; deportation remains a federal authority.
What they do is increase the circumstances in which state or local authorities must verify immigration information, share data with ICE or hold a person for an additional period when the federal agency issues a detention request.
E-Verify: more controls for employers
Unlike the previous laws, this initiative has not yet become law: it is a bill under consideration in the House of Representatives.
In May 2026, Republican lawmakers introduced the bill known as “Make E-Verify Great Again” (HB 1214), which originally sought to considerably expand the number of businesses required to use the federal E-Verify system, lowering the minimum threshold for a business to be required to use it from 25 employees to five. In June 2026, following committee amendments, that change was removed: if the current version becomes law, the requirement would continue to apply only to private businesses with 25 or more employees, as it does today.
Although that provision was removed, the initiative retains other provisions with a potential impact on employers. Among them are new powers for the North Carolina Department of Labor, which could conduct random audits to verify E-Verify compliance and review employment documentation. The bill also retains the requirement that the Department of Labor notify ICE and law enforcement agencies when there is a “reasonable probability” that a person is working without immigration authorization.
If the bill moves forward in its current form, most of its provisions would take effect Oct. 1, 2026. Unlike HB 10 or HB 318, this initiative does not change cooperation between state authorities and ICE regarding people who are arrested: its purpose is to strengthen oversight of employers and compliance with the federal employment verification system.
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