CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the Trump administration ramps up deportations, one local sheriff is sharing concern about the process. Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said his jail is filling up, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement isn’t picking the people up.

What You Need To Know

  • Mecklenburg County will now hold someone with an ICE detainer for an additional 48 hours after they have met all the conditions of their release
  • Sheriff Gary McFadden is frustrated because, he said, ICE has not been doing its part in this process or communicating with deputies

  • Jose Napoleon-Serrano, a Honduran national who has been deported twice before, was arrested again in January. He was released because ICE did not pick him up from the detention center, the sheriff said

Detention centers can hold a person for up to 48 hours, and if they meet the conditions of their release, ICE will send a detainer and an administrative warrant to the jail. However, ICE has not been getting these people from the Mecklenburg County Detention Center within the time frame necessary, leading McFadden to release them back into their community, the sheriff said. McFadden has faced critism over the situation and sat down with Spectrum News in an exclusive interview to explain his stance. 

Spectrum News 1 reached out to ICE several times and did not get a response. 

“We are doing all we need to do under the law and cooperating with ICE,” McFadden said. “If you're not going to pick up this person you have the common courtesy to say that we are not going to come and get them.”“We are doing all we need to do under the law and cooperating with ICE,” McFadden said. “If you're not going to pick up this person you have the common courtesy to say that we are not going to come and get them.”

He’s referring to a recent arrest of Jose Napoleon-Serrano, a Honduran national who has been deported twice. The sheriff said he released Napoleon-Serrano after ICE did not pick him up.

The sheriff’s office gave a timeline of the arrest and the release, which is something that drew attention and headlines:

"On Jan. 12 at 5:35 a.m., Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers arrested Serrano on domestic violence charges. At 6:09 a.m., the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) notified ICE with no response. On Jan. 13 in the morning, MCSO received the ICE detainer-administrative warrant and a 48-hour hold was signed and issued," according to the sheriff's office.

"The court order to hold Serrano was lifted, but he remained in custody at the detention center on his initial charges. On Jan. 17, five days after his arrest, and still no response from ICE, a magistrate issued a signed court order for his release on a posted $5,000 bond," the sheriff's office said.

As of Feb. 17, McFadden reported that 99 people were held by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office for ICE, and none of those people had been picked up. 

“All the sheriffs had the same concern: We are housing people, are we going to be funded?,” McFadden said. “We are housing people, where are the resources?”

Not only is McFadden frustrated by the lack of communication with ICE, but also that this is becoming an extra step and an added expense for law enforcement.

“They're in our custody, and we have to care for them, so they go through the medical part, they go through the evaluation… it is time consuming,” McFadden said. “It is a mandated issue that we are not being funded for… this is going to be an ongoing conversation, but the conversation is about cooperation.”

In the meantime, McFadden said he stands by his decision to release Serrano and will continue to do his job and abide by the law.

“I am cooperating with ICE. And I always cooperate with any law enforcement officer, but as someone said, cooperation goes both ways, and we have to hold them just accountable as everybody's trying to hold me accountable,” McFadden said.

The sheriff also claims that there are federal officers operating in his jurisdiction without his knowledge. He worries that it could cause tension between departments.

“We just want that understanding that we are here to serve and protect, and we don't want the criminals in our cities and our counties,” McFadden said. “We're not harboring anyone, and we are going to do what we need to do to make our city safe.”