A moderate Democrat is blowing the whistle on a sanctuary sheriff’s alleged attempt to threaten her into voting against more cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
North Carolina State Rep. Carla Cunningham, a Charlotte Democrat with a well-established independent streak, was intensely pressured by her party to vote against a July 2025 override of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of House Bill 318, legislation requiring sheriffs to honor ICE detainers. She is now alleging that the sheriff of Mecklenburg County attempted extortion when he suggested that she’d “get hurt” if she helped Republicans pass the bill.
“One of the first things he said was that the citizens of Mecklenburg County would come at me,” Cunningham told the Daily Caller News Foundation, speaking about her phone call with Sheriff Garry McFadden, a Democrat who has long opposed working with ICE agents.
The liberal sheriff spoke to Cunningham ahead of the vote and allegedly suggested there would be serious consequences if she helped push HB 318 into law.
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