CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A top official with ICE visited Charlotte Thursday, calling out Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden saying he was not cooperating with the agency.
McFadden fired back a couple of hours later at a separate news conference about immigration detainers.
The sheriff said he would have preferred that the new associate director for ICE sit down with him to work together on this issue
ICE said if the sheriff isn't going to cooperate with ICE detainers, they'd at least like a phone call before a potential criminal of interest to ICE is released into the community
McFadden said if ICE had talked to him about that, he would have told them about a public access system that would allow them to track criminals of interest to them.
FULL COVERAGE:
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- ICE: Man who caused nine-hour standoff should have been in jail
- Federal agents threaten Charlotte city councilman with arrest
- Sheriff McFadden begins tenure by ending ICE's 287 (g) program in Mecklenburg County
- Bill requiring NC sheriff's cooperation with ICE advances
- Suspect accused of violent crime out of jail due to 287 (g) ending
The sheriff, again, said a detainer is not signed by a judge
McFadden said if ICE wants him to hold a criminal, all they need to do is bring him a warrant signed by a judge. He said he's not releasing violent criminals and if ICE knows of violent criminals in the community, they should put out a warrant for them.
“Your sheriff follows the law and when a person comes to jail,” McFadden said. “If that person fulfills all the requirements of that bond by that magistrate judge, by law, I have to release him.”
“At the end of the day, this is about community safety,” said Tim Robbins, who is the executive associate director for ICE. “This is about criminals arrested for a crime. They've already ignored the immigration crime that they're here illegally.”
The sheriff said they do call ICE when they have someone whose immigration status they cannot verify.
Channel 9 asked the sheriff how much time that gives ICE to get a warrant
He said he didn’t know and that would be something they would learn if they sat down to discuss it.
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