North Carolina city passes resolution protecting illegal immigrants from ICE

A North Carolina city has approved a measure declaring itself a “Fourth Amendment Workplace” and boosting protections for illegal immigrant workers targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Durham City Council passed the resolution on Tuesday with a unanimous vote to shield city workers against raids and arrests carried out by federal officials, according to The Duke Chronicle.

The Fourth Amendment protects citizens against unreasonable searches and arrests, and requires warrants with probable cause of a crime before seizing a person or property.

The resolution instructs city staff to “uphold the 4th amendment at their workplace and city agencies and report back to Council any barriers to effective training on the 4th Amendment for any departments,” The Chronicle reported.

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The city has “historically pursued equity and safety for all residents,” the resolution stated, adding that having the trust of residents is essential to carrying out its operations.

The measure emphasizes that the threat of “unconstitutional seizure” has prevented migrants in the city from “safely engaging in public life, including pursuing employment and education.”

The resolution comes after four ICE agents in plain clothes showed up without warning at the Durham County Courthouse in July to detain an illegal immigrant facing a felony charge for domestic violence, although the man did not make it to his scheduled court appearance and no arrests were made, WRAL reported.

“Our residents witnessed ICE agents in our community, instilling widespread fear and uncertainty,” Mayor Leo Williams said in a statement after the incident. “While local leaders cannot legally override the federal government’s use and weaponization of ICE, we can and must stand in strategic solidarity with our neighbors.”

Residents also organized a demonstration on the day of the incident to protest ICE raids and arrests.

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“This is a direct threat to the safety and dignity of our communities. The Courthouse should be a place where people can seek justice, not where they’re hunted down by federal agents,” Durham County Board of Commissioners Chair Nida Allam, who was part of the demonstration, said at the time.

At the council meeting for the resolution, several migrants and their families spoke in favor of its passage, expressing their anxieties in day-to-day life, according to The Chronicle. Other residents also pushed for added protections for illegal immigrants and training for city staff to enforce the new measure.

“Durham celebrates a rich diversity of residents, and we understand that the Trump administration’s mass deportation targets a completely manufactured panic surrounding immigrants, puts anyone who does not appear white, anyone who does not speak English or has an accent, anyone regardless of papers or immigration status, at risk of abuse, abduction and even deportation to [a] country they have no ties to,” Elise Ballan, chair of the Durham Workers’ Rights Commission, said at the meeting.

Durham joins Carrboro, which became the first North Carolina town to adopt a Fourth Amendment Workplace resolution in May.

In February, ICE arrested 11 people in Durham who were in the U.S. illegally, according to federal officials. Some Durham residents reported being concerned about the safety of their family members after the arrests.

The federal government accused Durham in April of being a so-called “sanctuary” community for allegedly failing to cooperate with immigration officials. 

Local officials have since said the “sanctuary” label had “no legal or factual basis,” according to The Chronicle.

Last year, the North Carolina General Assembly overrode Democrat Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of a bill that forces sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration efforts.

Mayor Pro Tempore Mark Anthony Middleton said at a candidate forum earlier this week that he would never back collaboration between Durham police and ICE, The Chronicle reported.