CHARLOTTE — House Speaker Destin Hall introduced a bill he says will close a loophole that he says some sheriffs are using to not notify ICE before suspects subject to a detainer are released. The bill was introduced, in part, because of a continued dispute between ICE and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Last month, Channel 9 was with ICE agents as they arrested Jose Napoleon Serrano. The twice-deported Honduran national was subject to a detainer. But ICE says the agency wasn’t notified before he was released, and that’s why they had to arrest Napoleon Serrano when he was on his way to work.
Speaker Hall’s new bill would make that phone notification mandatory.
“If you’re illegally in North Carolina and you’re committing crimes, you gotta go,” Speaker Hall said.
Speaker Hall’s bill says the 48 hour detainer hold starts when the prisoner would otherwise be released from jail.
Currently, the 48 hours start when the jail gets the detainer. It also says the jail has to give ICE a two-hour warning before that person is released. Speaker Hall says this closes a loophole being used by a handful of sheriffs in the state.
“I think it’s just disappointing,” he said. “I think any elected official who would make a decision that is clearly not in the best interest of the public safety of the citizens of the state to let somebody walk out of a jail when the federal government has an ICE detainer on them, is just putting politics ahead of public safety.”
Sheriff Garry McFadden says he will follow this law if it is enacted. Immigration attorney Jailah Espinosa says the bill provides clarity but worries the 2-hour notification window may be tough to enforce.
“We know things can be kind of fluid in that time,” she said. “I think that is going to be a point of contention.”
VIDEO: Only On 9: Following ICE arrests, suspects taken to Alamance County Jail
©2025 Cox Media Group
