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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the controversial House Bill 10 (HB10), which would have increased private school voucher funding and required sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
As previously reported by BPR, a version of the controversial bill was vetoed two years ago by Cooper.
The 2024 version of HB10 passed by majority votes in the state Senate and House last week.
The measure's private school voucher provisions would have sent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fund Opportunity Scholarships for non-public school students.
In a news release, Cooper called the vouchers “the biggest threat to public schools in decades.”
But while much of the response to the veto focused on vouchers, activists in Asheville zeroed in on the provision in HB-10 that would have required all North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with ICE.
The bill would require sheriffs to honor ICE requests to detain – for at least 48 hours – individuals suspected of being in the country illegally.
The state’s Sheriff’s Association supported HB10 after legislators made several key changes – including those that would have increased recordkeeping requirements and would have allowed the North Carolina Attorney General to investigate complaints of non-compliance with the law.
Last week, Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montañas en Acción (CIMA), an Asheville-based non-profit organization that supports immigrants’ rights in Western North Carolina, rallied against HB10.
“We do not agree with this proposed anti-immigrant law,” community outreach member for CIMA, Dulce Morales, said.
Members of the community gathered to have open discussions about the bill while they also painted demonstration signs.
One of the signs read, “It is an unfair proposal that will oppress a community that contributes many good things to the state of NC.”
Ernesto Tocoa, a member of the CIMA community outreach team, said he has a vision for a better North Carolina.
“One day we will be better off in North Carolina,” Tocoa said. “That our families are all living together without being afraid of being deported, without being afraid of being separated from our families.”
Reacting to the veto on Friday, CIMA thanked Cooper.
“Please know that the fight is not over,” a Cima representative said in a text to BPR. “We still need to make sure the veto is not overridden when the House and Senate return on October 9.”
HB10 also included funding for K-12 public schools, Medicaid and broadband high speed internet expansion.
The General Assembly has a Republican supermajority and could vote to override the governor’s veto.
