Forum

Roy Cooper wants a U.S. Senate seat. Before voters hand him that job, they should remember what he did with the last one.

As governor of North Carolina, Cooper vetoed ICE-cooperation bills three times. Not once. Three times. The bills were simple. If a jail is holding someone… https://t.co/yAmMs6JkXc pic.twitter.com/lToSN8OuGY

— Patricia 🇺🇸 (@1109Patricia) September 3, 2026

Roy Cooper wants a U.S. Senate seat. Before voters hand him that job, they should remember what he did with the last one.

As governor of North Carolina, Cooper vetoed ICE-cooperation bills three times. Not once. Three times. The bills were simple. If a jail is holding someone ICE wants, hold them long enough for federal agents to pick them up. Cooper said no. He called it unconstitutional. He said it would pull police off “real” work. What it did was give cover to counties that treated immigration detainers like optional mail.

North Carolina banned official sanctuary-city ordinances back in 2015. Cooper’s vetoes were the workaround. The state could pretend it was not a sanctuary. Sheriffs who wanted to ignore ICE still could. A detainer would come in. A prisoner would walk out. Then the public would meet that person later, on a sidewalk, on a train, or in a courtroom.
Democrats still recite the same script. They say sanctuary policies make us safer because illegal immigrants will report crime if they are not afraid of deportation. That argument assumes the only people who matter are the ones who might call 911. It ignores the ones who never get the chance because a repeat offender was released instead of removed.

People who are here illegally and already in custody are not a mystery population. They have fingerprints. They have charges. ICE already identified them.

The only question is whether local government helps finish the job or opens the door.
Cooper now says he wants violent criminals deported and a secure border. Fine. Then explain why he spent years blocking the local tool that makes that possible.

You cannot campaign as the adult in the room after you vetoed the handcuffs.

This is why the sanctuary debate never dies. It is not about slogans. It is about a person who should have been on a plane and instead got another night on American streets. When that person hurts someone, the politician calls it an isolated case. The family calls it a policy.

Roy Cooper did not invent illegal immigration. He did decide, three times, that North Carolina did not have to help enforce the law against people already in jail. That is not compassion. That is a bet with other people’s lives.

Voters can weigh his speeches. They should weigh the vetoes first.