MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office is responding to claims from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they are not holding undocumented immigrants on immigration detainers.
The controversy, which has been noted by both federal, state and local officials for some time, centers around the recent arrest of 24 individuals at the beginning of March 2025. Of those, ICE said none of the detainers were honored, and 18 remain at large.
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As part of their statement Tuesday, ICE said in a news release:
Of these criminal aliens, six had active immigration detainers which the Charlotte Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office had not honored. There are 18 additional targeted aliens still at large who also had detainers that were not honored. ICE has been unable to locate those individuals, and they remain at large and pose a potential danger to the community. These aliens could have been safely and efficiently transferred into ICE custody if their detainers had been honored.
Queen City News reached out for comment from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. In a statement from Sheriff Garry McFadden, he said:
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from ICE and these federal task forces. I commend ICE, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for working together to remove violent criminals from our streets. This is why we have deputies on these federal task forces, however, when operations take place like this in Mecklenburg County, as a courtesy, we expect to be notified to prevent potential blue-on-blue, violent assaults.
By now, ICE should be aware we do not honor civil detainers because they are not signed by a judge. I must follow the law—if a judge orders me to release someone, I cannot legally detain them. MCSO has housed 163 undocumented immigrants for 48 hours at the detention center, yet ICE chose not to pick up any of them nor notify me of their intentions. In fact, we welcome the name of the 6 undocumented immigrants that ICE recently arrested that they claim have active detainers on them. ICE knows they need a writ signed by a judge, along with a criminal warrant or an indictment, to take anyone into their custody. A detainer alone is not a legal document allowing me to transfer someone without a federal warrant, complaint, or writ. How many times do I need to explain this process? For instance, we well know that several people have been arrested and rearrested multiple times with detainers placed on them multiple times by ICE. ICE has not yet contacted us or notified of their intentions.
Today, I sent an email to ICE’s Atlanta Field ERO Office regarding the financial burden the detainers place on taxpayers and the importance of informing the sheriff’s office of their true intentions on whether they are going to pick up these undocumented immigrants or seek federal, criminal charges. If ICE perceives these undocumented immigrants as violent or dangerous, they should place on them criminal charges, rather than detainers.
That said, I don’t see why this news stands out. Arrests like these happen every day across America, carried out by my deputies and other law enforcement officers across the county and nation.
What I continue to expect—and have said repeatedly—is collaboration, communication, and open dialogue with ICE. A more comprehensive approach to immigration is necessary, and local sheriffs must be part of that conversation. I cannot keep having these discussions through media releases, soundbites, and weekly statements.”
North Carolina State House Speaker Destin Hall noted last month that legislation to force more cooperation with ICE is making its way through the General Assembly.
