NC governor vetoes two immigration bills
Vetoes come amid more reports of illegal alien arrests in NC
On Friday, NC Governor Josh Stein issued his first vetoes on three bills, two of which deal with strengthening law enforcement cooperation with ICE.
The immigration bills are Senate Bill 153 and House Bill 318. Read my article at North State Journal for a full look at these vetoes.
Both Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall quickly issued statements condemning the vetoes and promising override votes.
An override could happen if Democrats don’t see Stein as the kind of retaliatory governor that his predecessor Roy Cooper was.
An override is especially possible for House Bill 318. Mecklenburg Rep. Carla Cunningham has been the lone Democrat voting in favor of that bill and the House only needs one Democrat to cross the aisle to override Stein’s veto.
It’s also worth noting that Berger and Hall are primary sponsors of the bills respective to their chambers.
Stein’s vetoes come amid more reports of illegal alien arrests in NC.
In his press release, Gov. Stein included commentary from law enforcement officials and other individuals supporting his opposition to the bills.
It’s worth noting that Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden, who has become a bit infamous for refusing to honor ICE detainers.
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough was included, however; stating, “At a time when constitutional and due process rights are under attack, we must say something and stand up. I stand with the Governor.”
Kimbrough’s statement stuck out to me, as MTS has reported on numerous illegal alien arrests in Forsyth County in the past six months.
In fact, two more arrests in NC recently popped up; one of which occurred on May 3 in Forsyth County.
Jail records show Francisco Chachajqui was charged with indecent liberties and statutory rape of a child. The records also show he is still incarcerated under a $475,000 and there is an ICE detainer hold on him.
The other arrest was in Brunswick County.
Jario Quezada-Herrara was arrested on June 14 for second degree forcible rape. Jail records show he’s still in the Brunswick detention center on a $5 million secured bond. He is also marked as an ICE hold.
Whether NC law enforcement cooperates with ICE or not, that agency is not taking its foot off the gas — especially in sanctuary jurisdictions.
"We've got over 1,000 teams on the streets every day across this country — and right now we're concentrating on sanctuary cities because that's where the problem is," Border Czar Tom Homan told reporters on June 19. "They knowingly release public safety threats, illegal aliens, into the community every day."
More To The Story
Prior to Stein’s vetoes, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) was back out carrying their anti-ICE banner this week. They were specifically protesting House Bill 318 and Senate Bill 153 in an effort to pressure Stein.
PSL has been heavily involved in the “50501” anti-Trump protests, anti-ICE protests and most recently, the “No Kings” protest. PSL was also a part of the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots, which also saw another set of activist enter the scene: Unions.
The SEIU was very visible at the anti-ICE protests/riots in Los Angeles. The AFL-CIO showed up as well.
David Huerta, the president of SEIU California, was arrested on June 6 while "documenting" an ICE raid, and his arrest fueled additional demonstrations.
Now we have worker organizing groups jumping in, specifically restaurant/minimum wage groups.
As noted in the letter above, it's signed by the "Solidarity Restaurants Team." This is a very new initiative launched by "One Fair Wage," which is the logo found at the bottom of the letter.
This is not dissimilar to NC’s Rev. Barber teaming up with “Fight for 15,” a union-led minimum wage group.
One Fair Wage describes itself as fighting "for fair wages on behalf of the more than 13.6 million restaurant workers nationwide, including our 300,000 restaurant worker members and over 2500 ‘high road’ restaurant employers."
The landing page for One Fair Wage's (OFW) website includes the image of a woman wearing a shirt that reads "wage justice is racial justice."
OFW seems to be concentrating on a handful of states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Ohio.
According to the Capital Research Center's Influence Watch, which tracks nonprofits and political groups, OFC is a "fiscally funded project of Alliance for a Just Society and is also closely associated with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC)."
OFW's 2023 IRS 990 shows over $5 million in revenue but expenses of over $8.66 million.
OFW operates a lobbying action group based in Seattle, Washington, called One Fair Wage Action. According to Influence Watch's profile of the OFW Action, at least one board member has direct links to David Brock and Democrat-tie organizations.
The 2023 IRS filing for OFW Action showed over $1.212 million in revenue and expenses of $156,685.
Though neither Influence Watch profile on OFW states it, this group likely works closely with labor unions. More lobbying activity by OFW can be found on the lobbyist/political spending tracking website Open Secrets.
Additional Tidbits
Over a week ago, I went on WBT's Breaking with Brett Jensen to talk about the two immigration bills after the legislature sent them to the governor. Catch that discussion around the 17 minute mark.
Check out this recent report at the Center for Immigration Studies which says as many as a million illegal aliens may have self deported just in President Trump’s first six months.
Related MTS Reading:
