RALEIGH, N.C. — Rep. Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg, delivered a controversial speech on the North Carolina House floor during a veto override session Tuesday which raised eyebrows among some of her Democratic colleagues.
North Carolina House Republicans needed one Democrat to help them override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of House Bill 318 — a bill that would require sheriffs to call immigration officers before releasing someone who is undocumented.
Cunningham, a Democrat, originally voted for the bill, before she decided to vote with Republicans to override Stein’s veto.
She gave a speech expressing why she changed her mind.
“As a social scientist reports, all cultures are not equal,” Cunningham said. “Some immigrants come and believe they can function in isolation, refusing to adapt.”
She added, “No country is going to allow people to come in and not acknowledge its constitution, legal systems and laws.”
Several Democratic lawmakers spoke out against Cunningham’s remarks, including Charlotte State Senator Caleb Theodros.
“This idea that, the comment was that there are some cultures beneath others, I’m paraphrasing here, I think is antithetical to everything we teach our kids,” he said.
Theodros did not say Cunningham should be replaced in her district, but he did say representatives need to speak out against, what he calls, “bad policy.”
“To see that come from Democrats is disheartening,” he said. “Roughly 600,000 people are set to lose their healthcare in the next few years unless we do anything. That has nothing to do with the number of immigrants or a certain culture that’s superior to another.”
Cunningham also voted with Republicans to override the veto on a bill that removes the state’s goal to cut carbon emissions.
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