Clergy and faith leaders gathered at Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh for a prayer vigil, lifting up both law enforcement officers and immigrant communities they say are caught in the fallout of North Carolina’s newest immigration law. The gathering came weeks after Senate Bill 153 became law, a measure that forces several state agencies, including the State Highway Patrol, into formal cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The vigil was reported by WRAL, whose Kirstyn Clark documented the clergy-led event. Rev. Joel Simpson told the outlet that the law increases state troopers’ responsibilities and pulls them away from other important work, adding that officers did not sign up for the responsibilities now imposed on them. He also reflected on shared accountability, saying everyone is complicit in what happens but everyone also has a role in changing it.
Becky Showalter, another attendee, voiced concern that immigrants may stop reporting crimes to law enforcement out of fear of being taken away, according to the WRAL report. She said she was worried about the difficult decisions officers may be forced to make and the consequences those decisions could carry for immigrants. Some attendees at the vigil also said, per WRAL’s account, that ICE has targeted people who are U.S. citizens and people with no criminal record.
What Senate Bill 153 Actually Requires
Senate Bill 153, now enacted as Session Law 2026-19, requires four state law enforcement entities — the Department of Public Safety, Department of Adult Correction, State Highway Patrol, and State Bureau of Investigation — to enter into 287(g) Memorandums of Agreement with ICE, according to the UNC Legislative Reporting Service. Those agreements allow designated state officers to carry out federal immigration enforcement duties that were previously handled only by ICE agents themselves…