Local-Federal Immigration Enforcement in North Carolina: Mapping the Criminal-Immigration Overlap

Abstract

This essay explores local-federal immigration enforcement in North Carolina's Wake, Durham, and Guilford Counties through ethnographic analysis. It situates 287(g) and Secure Communities partnerships in their regional, historical, and structural contexts, namely the broader southern response to immigration, the expansion of local-federal enforcement, and the contemporary U.S. immigration detention pipeline. Section 287(g) and Secure Communities highlight growing linkages between criminal and immigration law with increasingly punitive consequences. Comparing these programs illuminates the gap between policy and practice and subsequent barriers to justice. The article discusses the significance of narrative and coalition-building in contemporary resistance work and concludes with preliminary policy recommendations related to identification and federal detainer usage.

Keywords

• Immigration
• interior enforcement
• detention
• Section 287(g)
• Secure Communities.