CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Monday night, North Carolina senators are debating a bill that would require sheriffs to work with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Opposition is mounting against that legislation, saying it attacks sheriffs and the people they are sworn to protect.
Rallies are taking place from Charlotte to Raleigh as senators prepare to debate House Bill 370.
"We say, no mas! No more! And we say hands off our elected sheriffs," one person said at a rally.
The bill would require police to check everyone they arrest against the federal immigration database and potentially hold them on a detainer for ICE.
The bill could also forcibly remove sheriffs from office if they don't cooperate with immigration officials. That includes Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden.
"If HB 370 passes, it will be the beginning phase of the erosion of the constitutional powers of the sheriff," McFadden said.
Sponsors say the proposal is designed to protect public safety. Critics say it will tear families apart.
"Many of the students that I teach are fearful, fearful that their family and friends who are honest and industrious will be torn from their loved ones," another person at a rally said.
Governor Roy Cooper issued a statement signaling his disapproval of the proposed bill. He said it's unconstitutional and is "about scoring political points and using fear to divide us."