Organizations submit a letter of complaint against the Alamance County Sheriff's office

A pool of organizations has submitted a letter of complaint against the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office concerning an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking for an investigation into the county’s policing practices.

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, North Carolina Justice Center, and Siembra NC submitted a letter of complaint directed to the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to initiate an investigation into Alamance County's policing practices and the Sheriff’s Office 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

287(g) is a voluntary agreement between law officials and ICE that gives them the power to enforce immigration laws. In 2020, Alamance’s Sheriff, Terry Johnson, signed a new contract with ICE with no expiration date. The Alamance Sheriff’s Office has been under scrutiny before for discriminatory policing activities and racial profiling against Latinos.

Adriel Orozco with the North Carolina Justice Center says the agreement creates a climate of fear and distrust between Latinos and law officials. 

"If you're a survivor of domestic violence, or if there's another issue that you need to report to local law enforcement, people might just decide not to do that, and forgo services that could either provide them safety or other resources," says Orozco.

Orozco says the organizations want to hold both Alamance County and the federal government accountable for these partnerships and their effect on local communities.

Sheriff Terry Johnson says he’s been advised by the Alamance County attorney to not make any statements. But in an email to WFDD, he characterized the letter as “a false narrative.”

This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. 

Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.

Periodista de La Noticia y 88.5 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022