CHARLOTTE — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Friday vetoed two bills that would help Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the state.
Channel 9 has previously reported on House Bill 318 and Senate Bill 153, which passed the legislature earlier this month.
House Bill 318 would expand a law that passed in November and would require sheriffs to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement within two hours after an undocumented immigrant is scheduled to be released, and require they be held for 48 hours before doing so. It also expands the types of crimes that trigger the requirement to now include any felony, Class A1 misdemeanors against a child in the womb or involving sexual assault, and DWI offenses.
On Friday, Stein said he supported the bill’s efforts to require sheriffs to contact federal immigration authorities, but he said the bill would require sheriffs to “unconstitutionally detain people for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.”
“The Fourth Circuit is clear that local law enforcement officers cannot keep people in custody solely based on a suspected immigration violation,” Stein said in a statement. “But let me be clear, anyone who commits a serious crime in North Carolina must be prosecuted and held accountable regardless of their immigration status.”
Breaking: Governor Josh Stein has vetoed HB318 #ncpol pic.twitter.com/d9yEIHgaOk
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) June 20, 2025
Senate Bill 153 would require more state agencies to work with ICE, and it would train them to check whether people are here illegally. That would include the departments of public safety, corrections, highway patrol, and the State Bureau of Investigation. It also directs agencies to stop providing state benefits to noncitizens, including unemployment compensation. It also allows victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants to sue cities and counties if they create sanctuary policies, and it forbids the UNC school system from keeping information from federal immigration officials.
Stein said SB153 would have made the public “less safe.”
“At a time when our law enforcement is already stretched thin, this bill takes state law enforcement officers away from their existing state duties and forces them to act as federal immigration agents. Furthermore, under current law, people without lawful immigration status already are prevented from receiving Medicaid, SNAP, Section 8, and other benefits,” Stein said about the Senate bill."
Opponents of the bills had called on Stein to veto them numerous times throughout the past week.
Stein vetoed a third bill that deals with constitutional carry.
It would have allowed people 18 and older to carry concealed guns without a permit.
In his veto, Stein said the bill would also make north Carolinians less safe.
Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger released a statement regarding Steins decision, saying:
“Today, Gov. Stein proved where his allegiances are. He’d rather prioritize his far-left donors and their dangerous open-border policies over the citizens of North Carolina who are desperately pleading for us to put an end to the illegal immigration crisis. I look forward to the Senate overriding his veto.”
The Republican Party holds a supermajority in the Senate. The House doesn’t have enough Republicans to override Stein’s veto at a full vote, but one Democrat, Carla Cunningham, did vote in favor of HB318.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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