As governor, Democrat Roy Cooper vetoed ICE cooperation bills three times while North Carolina counties freed illegal immigrants who later faced murder and child sex charges.
Cooper is now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina. His record in the governor’s office still hangs over the race.
Breitbart News laid out how Cooper blocked bills that would have required local law enforcement to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Counties released suspects who had active ICE detainers. Some of those men later faced new charges for killing a girlfriend or sexually abusing a child.
Estimates put nearly 500,000 illegal immigrants in the state during his tenure. The same reporting tied sanctuary-style policies to a claimed $3.14 billion hit on taxpayers.
State lawmakers tried more than once to force sheriffs to honor ICE detainers and share custody of people already in jail on state charges.
Cooper killed those efforts in 2019, 2022, and 2024.
In his 2019 veto message he cast the bill as politics, not public safety.
Cooper wrote:
"This legislation is simply about scoring partisan political points and using fear to divide North Carolina,"
He also argued the measure “weakens law enforcement in North Carolina by mandating sheriffs to do the job of federal agents.”
The 2019 veto followed lobbying by Siembra NC. That group runs “ICE Watch” workshops and has operated a “community defense” hotline that urges residents to report ICE activity.
Cooper vetoed similar legislation again in 2022 and 2024. After the third veto, lawmakers passed a final version with a bipartisan override and made it law.
In 2018 and 2019 alone, 489 illegal immigrants with active ICE detainers left state prisons.
Those detainers covered people charged with sex offenses, kidnapping, and homicides. Release did not wait for federal pickup.
County jails followed the same pattern when local officials refused to work with ICE.
In Durham County, authorities arrested an illegal immigrant for robbery with a dangerous weapon. They released him despite an ICE detainer.
Six months later he allegedly strangled his girlfriend to death after he thought she was cheating. He fled. Officers later caught him in Louisiana and charged him with murder.
In Mecklenburg County, a previously deported illegal immigrant was arrested on charges that included first-degree rape and indecent liberties with a minor. County officials did not want to cooperate with ICE, and he was released.
In Buncombe County, home to Asheville, officials refused ICE cooperation after charging an illegal immigrant with statutory sex offenses against an 11-year-old girl. He walked out of custody as well.
Each case followed the same basic sequence: state charges, an ICE detainer or clear federal interest, local non-cooperation, and release back into North Carolina communities.
Cooper spent eight years as governor. The North Carolina Highway Patrol reported directly to him and worked with him throughout that stretch.
The NC Troopers Association represents those troopers. It has not endorsed Cooper for Senate. Breitbart reported in August that zero law enforcement organizations have backed him. Those groups have lined up behind Republican Michael Whatley instead.
A recent Quantus Insights survey showed Cooper at 48 percent and Whatley at 43 percent, a five-point race.
Cooper’s veto messages talked about partisan games and federal overreach. The charging documents and release records told a different story on the ground.
Illegal immigrants already in custody on serious state charges walked free because local and state policy treated ICE detainers as optional. Girlfriends and children in North Carolina then became the next alleged victims.
Legislators finally overrode him. Law enforcement groups that know the cost of catch-and-release have made their preference clear in the Senate race.
Voters now get to decide whether that record belongs in Washington.
