NC sheriff renews immigration deportation program

CHARLOTTE — A North Carolina sheriff says he’ll continue to use a controversial program that allows deputies to report suspected illegal immigrants after they’re arrested on other charges.

The Charlotte Observer reported Friday that Mecklenburg County Sheriff Chip Bailey signed a new agreement with a federal program that allows deputies to put immigrants into deportation
proceedings. Mecklenburg deputies have placed more than 7,700 illegal immigrants into removal proceedings since the department joined the program in 2006.

Bailey expects fewer immigrants will be deported because the Department of Homeland Security wants the focus on serious offenders. The federal program has been criticized for being used
to round up minor offenders instead of serious criminals.

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