North Carolina Justice Center opposes Senate Bill 153: A dangerous and unnecessary expansion of immigration enforcement

RALEIGH (March 6, 2025) – The NC Justice Center strongly opposes Senate Bill 153, a dangerous attack on immigrants that would require North Carolina law enforcement agencies to formally collaborate with ICE and allow them to perform the functions of immigration officers. This bill will not only have chilling effects on our state’s immigrant communities, but will also undermine public safety, erode public trust, and place a significant financial burden on North Carolina taxpayers.

SB 153 represents an extreme expansion of immigration enforcement in North Carolina via 287(g) agreements, which currently are only used inside some county jails. If SB 153 becomes law, State Highway Patrol will have the power to question people on the street about their immigration status—a move that takes these officers away from their core mission of highway safety and will almost certainly lead to racial profiling.

The bill also undermines the mission of the State Bureau of Investigation by forcing agents to act as immigration officers. This will only make it harder for agents to gain the trust of victims and witnesses when investigating serious crimes like narcotics and human trafficking.

“There is no evidence that 287(g) programs reduce crime. In fact, research funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and a study from the Cato Institute that focused on the impact of 287(g) on crime rates in North Carolina both showed that these programs entirely fail to fulfill their intended purpose,” said Kate Woomer-Deters, Senior Attorney at the NC Justice Center. “Review of the data also shows that large percentages of those caught up in the program had committed only minor misdemeanors or traffic offenses, making it a waste of valuable taxpayer money that should be spent on serious crime prevention.”

North Carolina taxpayers will indeed pay a heavy price, as studies have shown that implementing 287(g) programs costs individual counties millions of dollars. Expanding these agreements statewide would create significant financial strain, forcing North Carolinians to pay twice for immigration enforcement— once through federal taxes and again through state taxes.

The NC Justice Center stands firm in opposing SB 153’s reckless expansion of 287(g) programs. Our state law enforcement agencies should be able to focus their time, energy, and dollars on investigating crimes and enforcing public safety rather than being forced to engage in activities that actively jeopardize their core missions and have no demonstrable impact on safety or crime reduction.