CHARLOTTE — The dispute between Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden and ICE continues. Sheriff McFadden is commenting again on ICE’s arrest of Jose Napoleon Serrano. Channel 9 covered ICE’s arrest of the twice deported Honduran national. A detainer was issued and Napoleon-Serrano was held for 48 hours but ICE says he was released without the agency being notified. The detainer requested the MCSO call ICE before release. Since the implementation of HB10, which requires sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, Sheriff Garry McFadden has stated the phone call notification is not required.
In a new statement Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff McFadden asked ICE to notify his agency about their intentions when future detainers are in place. He asked ICE to let him know whether they are going to pick someone up.
“Communication with ICE stops once they issue a detainer. Collaboration is a two-way street. Transparency is a two-way street, Sheriff McFadden said. “I am still waiting for productive discussions with local ICE officials on the process we follow in regard to undocumented persons and how our agency can work more effectively with ICE.”
Channel 9 has reached out to ICE for comment.
As Sheriff McFadden’s dispute with ICE continues, state lawmakers are signaling future involvement. House Speaker Destin Hall previously told Channel 9 tweaks to the law could be coming. In a post on X referencing this, Speaker Hall’s chief of staff retweeted the post and said “stay tuned.”
According to ICE, Napoleon-Serrano was previously deported twice. In 2020, he was removed from the United States after being arrested in Operation Noble Guardian. That’s when investigators arrested people who crossed the border with a kid to be deemed a family unit so they could avoid detention. ICE says the kid would then be sent back after entering the US. Last month, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department arrested Napoleon-Serrano on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a female, and domestic violence.
In Sheriff McFadden’s statement, he said his office was unaware of Napoleon-Serrano’s “past arrests, encounters or level of danger.”
Statement from Sheriff McFadden:
The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office is committed to transparency and lawful procedures regarding the handling of individuals in custody, including those with immigration concerns. Recent discussions and media inquiries surrounding the case of Honduras national Napoleon Serrano highlight the need for clarity in how information is shared between local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
When a person is arrested, staff at Arrest Processing Center ask every and any person several questions with three of them dealing with citizenship. As it pertains to an undocumented person, that information is entered into a database on DCI/NCIC through a PIN message to ICE. Essentially, MCSO uses this system to query ICE when we cannot determine citizenship. It includes dates, time stamps and other pertinent details. ICE is then notified through Immigration Alien Queries (IAQs). This process has remained the same through previous administrations and sheriffs, despite the removal of the 287g program.
However, this system does not provide MCSO with details about a person’s past arrests, encounters, or level of danger. Only ICE has that information. That said, when ICE saw Napoleon Serrano’s name, they should have immediately recognized that they had encountered him twice before and previously deported him twice. MCSO is unaware of any state or federal charges attached to Serrano’s past two deportations.
As MCSO has stood clear in its processes, the agency expects the same level of transparency in return. Once a detainer is issued, ICE should clearly understand that they have 48 hours to make the pickup. During that time, MCSO is asking ICE to inform our agency of their intentions, whether they plan to pick up a person or allow the person to remain on state charges.
“Communication with ICE stops once they issue a detainer. Collaboration is a two-way street. Transparency is a two-way street, Sheriff McFadden said. “I am still waiting for productive discussions with local ICE officials on the process we follow in regard to undocumented persons and how our agency can work more effectively with ICE.”
(WATCH BELOW: Sheriff pushes back against ICE with timeline of man’s arrest)
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