NC Highway Patrol signs ICE cooperation deal as agencies face Thursday deadline

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Sep 29, 2026

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North Carolina state law enforcement agencies face a Thursday deadline to enter agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allow their officers to carry out immigration enforcement duties usually performed by federal agents, under a Republican-backed state law enacted this summer.

One of them, the State Highway Patrol, has signed its agreement, according to ICE’s website.

The site lists 31 state and local law enforcement agencies across North Carolina that have signed such agreements, known as memorandums of agreement, with ICE. Most are county sheriff’s offices, along with a few municipal police departments.

The site shows the Highway Patrol signed its agreement on Sunday, Sept. 27. Unlike the listings for other agencies, the entry does not yet link to the agreement itself, but it identifies the agreement as a “Task Force Model.”

The Task Force Model is the only one of the three types of agreements that extends beyond jails. According to ICE’s website, it allows officers to use limited immigration enforcement authority during routine police work, such as traffic stops, and to take part in ICE-led task forces. The other two models, the Jail Enforcement Model and the Warrant Service Officer Program, apply only to people already in jail or state custody.

The new law follows legislation enacted in 2024 over the veto of former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper that required sheriffs in all 100 counties to comply with ICE detainer requests. Republicans pushed both measures, which drew opposition from Democrats and immigrant advocates.

Andreina Malki, defense manager for the immigrant advocacy group Siembra NC, said in a release Tuesday that the Highway Patrol agreement “gives state troopers the power to turn a routine traffic stop into a gateway for immigration enforcement simply by asking, ‘Where were you born?’”

She noted that under North Carolina law, drivers must provide a license, registration and proof of insurance, but drivers and passengers have a constitutional right not to answer questions about birthplace or immigration status. Adult noncitizens are required under federal law to carry proof of immigration registration, like a green card.

“Exercising your constitutional right to remain silent can be the difference between returning home to your family and being funneled into the deportation system,” she said.

The state law changes come as the Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement and deportations nationwide, with ICE preparing to open a 1,400-bed private detention facility in Winton, N.C., run by GEO Group.

Details on the legislation

The requirement for state agencies to sign onto such agreements with ICE was passed into law in Senate Bill 153, which was sponsored by Republican Senate leader Phil Berger.

SB 153 requires the Highway Patrol, the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Adult Correction to sign agreements.

The News & Observer has reached out to all the agencies to request comment, including details on plans to sign a memorandum of agreement from agencies that show up as not having yet done so. The N&O has also requested the memorandum from the Highway Patrol.

SB 153 was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein — who oversees the state agencies — in June of last year. The following month, Senate Republicans voted to override his veto. In June of this year, House Republicans did the same with the help of a former Democrat turned unaffiliated lawmaker.

Rep. Reece Pyrtle, an Eden Republican, said in June during the House override debate that “these are commonsense things to do to ensure that we are doing what we can at the state level to address illegal immigration and protect our citizens.”

More specifically, the law requires each agency to enter a memorandum of agreement with ICE “to permit designated State law enforcement officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions.” Officers will need to receive training from ICE.

Agencies must adopt policies to check the immigration status of anyone “in the custody or under the supervision” of the agency via inquiries, documents or both. If someone is found to not have a legal immigration status, then they’d have to notify ICE, says the law.

The bill was tweaked in the budget passed this year to fix the dates. The corrections required that the agencies send the memorandum and policies to designated legislative committees by Oct. 1. The state auditor is required to perform an audit on compliance and report the results to the General Assembly no later than Dec. 31.

Additionally, under the law, any city or county that adopts a sanctuary ordinance — meaning they limit cooperation with ICE — automatically waives its governmental immunity, which opens them up to lawsuits. It also requires state agencies to make sure they do not provide any state-funded benefits to immigrants without legal status.

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