In a press conference Tuesday morning, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller announced that Buncombe County would no longer hold detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stating that a detainer request is not a valid warrant.  

"The sheriff's office will continue to comply with all applicable state and federal laws, however we do not make or enforce immigration laws. That is not part of our law enforcement duties," Sheriff Miller said.

The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office will continue its policy of not participating in or assisting ICE raids, and deputies will not gather information on immigration status. Deputies will also not ask any questions about citizenship.

"It is vital that members of our immigrant community can call the sheriff's office without fear when they are in need of assistance from law enforcement," Sheriff Miller said.

Activists hail the sheriff's action as a good first step.

"There's a long history of mistrust between communities of color and law enforcement, and having a directive of this sort addresses those issues and starts building trust," CIMA co-director Coco Alcazar said.

Trust in a community where people have been detained and taken away without a day in court.

"We need an immigration policy that makes sense," Asheville/Buncombe NAACP president Carmen Ramos-Kennedy said. "I don't think we, as a community, as an organization, should be giving up our community members to ICE, that simple."

Others said they attended the news conference in support of families whose loved ones have simply disappeared.

"For us, as people of faith, it's about human dignity, human respect. That is something we found in Jesus," the Rev. Todd Donatelli, dean at Cathedral of All Souls.

Miller says his policy directive is simply a mandate to follow the letter of the law, that once a person serves their time, they will be released from his jail and not taken into custody again based on an ICE detainer request. Miller says those are not legal warrants, and also not in line with how he wants to operate his agency.

"If ICE, the FBI, DHS or any other law enforcement agency provides a valid criminal warrant, that person will be handed over to that agency," Sheriff Miller said.

The sheriff's office has been operating without a 287 (g) agreement in place for many years.

Since December, new sheriffs in Mecklenburg and Wake Counties have reversed a policy that notifies ICE about the legal status of inmates in county jails. The Durham County Sheriff's Office also ended the practice of honoring ICE detainers.

Henderson County Sheriff Lowell Griffin said Henderson's contract is up in May. He said he doesn’t have the staff to handle contract requirements that stipulate that a trained deputy should be on duty 24/7 to question a suspected undocumented immigrant

FROM WHKP NEWS EARLIER COVERAGE:    

THE LOCAL CONTRACT WITH ICE EXPIRES JUNE 30TH    

Is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement a good thing or a bad thing...and is it good and worth the money for Henderson County? Those questions are not fully resolved yet, according to Sheriff Lowell Griffin..

In a detailed interview on the ICE issue with WHKP News, the sheriff said he’ll make a decision of renewing the county current ICE contract with federal authorities “when the time is appropriate...the current contract does not exire until the end of June.”

Griffin clarified that the ICE current contract the county has with federal authorities allows the sheriff’s department, if they have officers who are certified to do so, to determine the immigration status of an individual once that individual is booked into the detention facility for whatever reason. And if it’s found that the individual is in the country illegally, a “detainer” can be placed on the individual until the federal immigration authorities can take custody of the individual and make a decision on going forward with formal proceedings.

The issue is, says the sheriff, with the increasing demands in our county jail, the county does not have adequate personnel to meet those demands and requirements.

“We don’t really have the personnel to cover the “day to day” tasks in the jail”, said the sheriff. “And when you add to that the the ICE program, I have to send officers out of state for just over a month at a time to be trained for certification to continue the ICE program.”

As for the possibility of not renewing the ICE contract, Sheriff Griffin emphasized “We are in no way looking to become any type of “sanctuary” county, we are still going to work with federal agencies, and we are still going to detain those we need to detain”, said Griffin...”But there’s actually an ICE office in Hendersonville just a few blocks away”, he saidl, speaking of the former doctor’s office across from Pardee Hospital at Sixth and Justice Street and he said there are other duplications of services. “So there are a lot of things to consider and we will be considering those as we move closer to making a decision about this program.”

Griffin points out the county gets no federal funding assistance for this...the total cost of handling these “federal detainers”, he says, “...comes on the backs of Henderson County taxpayers.”

Griffin says ICE is targeting those who have a criminal history and who are here illegally. He points out the sheriff’s department has no involvement at all in local ICE raids, and has no warning when they occur...but he emphasizes ICE is targeting specific individuals who are wanted or are here illegally and who pose a threat to the community.

As for the whole immigration issue, Griffin said our lawmakers “...need to push forward with some comprehensive solutions as far as the immigrations laws are concerned.”.

As for ICE, Griffin says “They probably do a better job than anyone realizes. The problem is they (ICE) have very poor public relations concerning getting the word out about those they have arrested. However, as a local law enforcement agency we have absolutely no authority to go out into the field and assist the ICE operations in the field”

“Our contract, says Griffin, “deals only with potential criminal illegal immigrants, after they’ve been arrested and once they come into the county detention facility.”

And it’s that contract the sheriff will be considering, along with county commissioners, as we get closer to the expiration of the current ICE contact this summer.

By Larry Freeman and Tippy Creswell