ASHEVILLE — Weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more than 200 people in a statewide operation then vowed a "more visible presence" in North Carolina, the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office is significantly altering its relationship with the federal agency.

Sheriff Quentin Miller announced Tuesday that his office, which operates the county's 608-bed jail, will no longer honor ICE detainers — holds placed on inmates who federal immigration officials suspect are in the country illegally.

"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," Miller said.

"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."

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An ICE detainer requests that law enforcement agencies continue to hold people arrested on criminal charges up to 48 hours beyond when they would've otherwise been released from jail — a determination made by the court system, not law enforcement personnel. The purpose of these holds is "to allow (the Department of Homeland Security) to assume custody for removal purposes," according to a statement on ICE's website.

ICE spokesman Bryan Cox told the Citizen Times on Tuesday that "as a direct result of this policy, persons in Asheville will see an increased presence of ICE."

The sheriff's new policy effectively prevents ICE from being able to take somebody into custody from the county jail for having violated immigration laws, Cox said.

Detainers versus criminal warrants

Miller drew a line between detainers and criminal arrest warrants, which he said said his office will continue to honor. If ICE — or any other law enforcement agency — takes out a warrant on a Buncombe County inmate, the sheriff said "that person will be handed over to that agency."

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During 2018, ICE requested holds on 38 people in the Buncombe County jail, Miller said Tuesday morning. ICE picked up 20 of those 38. Major Daryl Fisher, who's in charge of the jail, said the county received no financial compensation from ICE, which Cox corroborated. At a daily per inmate cost of $76, the expense to Buncombe County for housing people on ICE holds could be as much as $5,776 for 2018.

ICE requested holds on six people in the county jail between Dec. 1 and Jan. 15. The agency took two of those people into custody, according to sheriff spokesman Aaron Sarver.

Fisher told the Citizen Times that ICE has a higher threshold to clear in order to take out criminal warrants against people it suspects are in the country illegally. On its website, ICE states detainers are placed on those whom the agency "possesses probable cause to believe that they are removable from the United States."

Cox described the comparison of criminal warrants and ICE holds as "apples and oranges."

"There is no process available for ICE, under the law, for a criminal warrant to be provided for a civil matter, which is what the Immigration and Nationality Act, passed by Congress, is," he said.

In their role as the co-directors of the immigrant-rights organization Compañeros Inmigrantes De Las Montañas en Acción — CIMA for short — Cocó Eva Solange and Bruno Hinojosa helped push for the policy change the sheriff announced Tuesday.

Although the number of ICE detainers placed on Buncombe County inmates is far less than it is in more populous counties, "any number is too many," Hinojosa said.

"That's 38 people that now don't get due process," Solange added, referring to the number of people placed under ICE holds in 2018 and the fact that in immigration proceedings people aren't guaranteed legal representation — or even translation.

Carl Mumpower, chair of the Buncombe County GOP, told the Citizen Times on Tuesday that the sheriff's policy change "mocks everything that most conservative-minded people believe that our cherished law enforcement officers stand for."

Mumpower called Miller's approach toward ICE "antagonistic" and said he doesn't buy the argument that the sheriff can both ignore detainers and uphold the law simultaneously.

"Selective application of the law is the foundation of chaos, not safety, and I see this as a short sighted and ill-advised action by our sheriff; I also think it’s dangerous,” he said.

“The sheriff’s reasoning is the equivalent of my refusing to report a neighborhood fire because it’s not my house. That level of judgment is risky and will further undermine the morale confidence and safety of deputies already operating in a hostile reality”

Miller said took his deputies' input on the policy change in advance of Tuesday's announcement, noting he had their support.

ICE operations in NC this month

Miller's announcement comes at the end of what has been a turbulent month for North Carolina's immigrant community. During the first week of February, ICE agents arrested more than 200 people concentrated mainly in the state's two most populous counties, both of which had recently severed their 287g agreements with the federal agency.

Those agreements essentially deputized local detention officers, giving them the ability to handle some immigration matters pertaining to inmates and allowing ICE a greater foothold in county jails.

At a Feb. 8 press conference after the arrest operation, Sean Gallagher, director of ICE's operations in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, said his agency had no choice but to step up at-large enforcement efforts after the recently elected sheriffs of Mecklenburg and Wake counties cut ties with ICE.

"We don't want to be out doing this at-large enforcement," Gallager said. "It's dangerous for my staff, for the general public and those who are being arrested. I'd rather have my officers take custody of a criminal in the safe confines of a county jail."

He disparaged Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden, who was elected in November after having promised to rescind the 287g agreement, the Charlotte Observer reporter.

Gallagher said McFadden's actions had made his community less safe — a claim Mumpower echoed in his critique of the sheriff's new policy Tuesday and one that Miller addressed.

"Sheriff McFadden has been falsely attacked for releasing inmates that are deemed dangerous to the community," the Buncombe County sheriff said. "This is not true, but the public must understand that it is our judicial system that makes decisions on bond amounts and who provides the verdict of who is guilty and who is innocent."

Buncombe County doesn't have a 287g agreement. Four North Carolina counties do, according to ICE's website. The only western county that does is Henderson County, where newly elected Sheriff Lowell Griffin has expressed some doubts about the agreement.

ICE agents, driving a van that witnesses said was made to like a painter's vehicle, arrested four men from a Hendersonville home the week after the large-scale statewide arrests.

The sheriff is not the only elected official in the county to speak out against ICE recently.

County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara was present as the sheriff announced the policy change and has taken to Twitter to condemn ICE. Earlier this month, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer joined six other city leaders from across the state in condemning ICE's mass-arrest operation of the week before.

Miller said that he is aware that his decision not to honor ICE detainers will likely draw criticism from some, "maybe even ICE." He also recognized the fact that the decision could attract the attention of the agency — a point Cox confirmed.

After an unrelated community meeting in Candler Monday evening, Miller told the Citizen Times that fear of retribution won't stop him "from doing what's right."

"In my opinion they're coming anyway," he said of ICE. "I think it's important we speak now. We can't keep living in fear. I'm not getting picked up, but there are people who are.

Solange and Hinojosa, who have been in conversations with Miller since his election, at-large ICE arrests in Buncombe County have always been an inevitability. They support the sheriff's new policy direction regardless.

"Immigration already comes into our neighborhoods; they're already in local jails," Hinojosa said. "To me, the only difference is now people are standing against them, and the community is backing them up."

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