State jails in North Carolina defied U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement orders to detain 489 illegal migrants in their facilities, according to documents obtained by the local news channel WBTV.

According to the ICE website: Detainers are placed on aliens arrested on criminal charges for whom ICE possesses probable cause to believe that they are removable from the United States.

The greatest concern expressed by ICE is when local law enforcement agencies choose to release “criminal aliens” because they often “reoffend.”

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden has been leading the fight against cooperating with federal law enforcement and he earlier announced he “would no longer honor ICE detainers.”

Moreover, McFadden upheld a local decision, the 287(g) program that gave autonomy to local law enforcement agencies allowing them to defy ICE detainment orders.

In a similar tune, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper vetoed HB 370 last month, a bill that would’ve required law enforcement “compliance with immigration detainers and administrative warrants.”

The decision came days after ICE arrested an illegal migrant charged with “rape and child sex offense.” The suspect was later released because “the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office refused to honor an ICE detainer.”

Click here to read the WBTV report