North Carolina Republicans seek to force top Democrats to fall in line with Trump agenda
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republicans who are resolved to promote President Donald Trump’s agenda now seek to compel the recently elected Democratic governor to aid the president's immigration crackdown and stop the new Democratic attorney general from fighting Trump in court.
The North Carolina Senate advanced measures this week amplifying recent GOP-backed laws eroding powers of Democratic executive branch officials.
Emboldened by Trump's 3-point victory in November — his third in battleground North Carolina — Republicans approved a bill Tuesday that would force some law enforcement agencies who report to Gov. Josh Stein to cooperate with federal immigration agents. That would include having the State Bureau of Investigation, Department of Public Safety and adult correction system officially participate in the 287(g) program, which trains officers to interrogate defendants and determine their immigration status.
Republican lawmakers in over a dozen states this year have filed legislation seeking to require or incentivize cooperative agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural.
The bill also would direct Stein’s budget office to determine if immigrants in the country unlawfully are wrongly receiving state benefits.
Another measure given tentative approval Wednesday will prevent the attorney general — former U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson, now in Stein's old job — from challenging any presidential executive order, as he already has.
Just a few months ago, Republicans enacted a law forcing county sheriffs to assist ICE when jail inmates are found wanted by agents. The law passed despite a veto from then-Gov. Roy Cooper.
“North Carolina made it very clear in November that they support Donald J. Trump. Part of the reason for that support is his steadfast commitment to regaining control of our borders,” immigration bill sponsor Sen. Buck Newton said Tuesday. “We need to take further steps."
GOP leaders are unhappy that Jackson, a rising star among Democrats, has joined litigation with other Democratic attorneys general to challenge a few Trump directives, including an order seeking to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. to someone in the country illegally.
Republicans say the state Constitution gives lawmakers the power to set Jackson’s duties and his position has too much authority. Legislators weakened his job recently by preventing the attorney general from arguing a state law is unconstitutional and making him defer to lawmakers on entering certain legal settlements.
Jackson is “fighting against policies that the people of the state heard articulated by President Trump and voted for,” Senate leader Phil Berger said.
Jackson’s allies say voters expect the attorney general to defend their constitutional rights from federal overreach no matter which party holds the position or the presidency. Litigation that Jackson entered into against Trump policies has been successful so far, such as on research spending.
“The only reason you would want to stop the state of North Carolina from suing over possibly unconstitutional executive orders is if you want the president to be treated like a king,” Democratic Sen. Graig Meyer said.
A Jackson spokesperson said “legislation that undermines the independence of the Attorney General’s Office is bad for our state and its people.”
At least nine challenges of Trump administration actions by Democratic attorneys general have occurred so far.
James Tierney, a former Maine attorney general who teaches at Harvard Law School, said keeping North Carolina out of multistate lawsuits wouldn’t damage efforts to challenge Trump orders. But it could have a major impact if North Carolina doesn’t push back over policies that target the state specifically, he said.
In 2018, Iowa’s Republican governor reached a deal requiring the state’s Democratic attorney general to get her permission before joining out-of-state lawsuits.
The North Carolina bills would also need House approval. Republicans are one seat shy of a veto-proof General Assembly majority. That means Stein vetoes can be upheld if Democrats remain unified.
Stein, who is a frequent Trump critic engaging with his administration on Hurricane Helene aid, was noncommittal about the immigration bill this week.
Stein told reporters that people in the country unlawfully who commit violent crimes “will be held accountable” by the law and deported, while federal legislation is needed that includes a path to citizenship for longtime, law-abiding residents.
Pro-immigrant advocates against the bill say it would harm economic sectors that rely on immigrant labor and disrupt communities already worried about Trump's crackdown.
“Instead of protecting the state’s citizens, it will create distrust and increase insecurity for everyone,” Mario Alfaro with the group El Pueblo said during a committee.
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Associated Press writers David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
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