NC Senate Bill 153: Enforcement, Benefits, and Veto Override

North Carolina Senate Bill 153, the North Carolina Border Protection Act, is now state law. It took effect on June 24, 2026, when the state House overrode Governor Josh Stein’s veto, and it is codified as Session Law 2026-19.¹ The law requires several state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, cuts off state-funded public benefits and housing assistance for noncitizens without legal status, and strips governmental immunity from local governments that maintain sanctuary policies.

What State Agencies Must Do on Immigration Enforcement

Four state agencies must enter into 287(g) Memoranda of Agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: the State Highway Patrol, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Adult Correction, and the Department of Public Safety.¹ Under a 287(g) agreement, designated state officers receive ICE training and are authorized to perform immigration enforcement functions under federal supervision.

When an employee of one of those agencies has a person in custody or under supervision, they must attempt to determine whether the individual is a U.S. citizen or legal resident. If status cannot be confirmed, the employee must query ICE and share relevant information.¹ The statute directs the four agencies to “cooperate to the fullest extent allowed by law” with ICE.

The State Auditor is separately required to audit state agency compliance with the enforcement provisions and report to the General Assembly by December 31, 2025. Because the law did not formally take effect until June 2026, whether that retroactive deadline has been met is not clear from available records.¹

Which Public Benefits Are Cut Off

The Department of Health and Human Services must stop providing state-funded benefits to noncitizens residing in the country without legal permission, to the extent federal law allows. Fifteen programs are named, including Medicaid, Work First (the state’s TANF program), child care subsidies, foster care and adoption assistance, low-income energy assistance, and medication assistance programs.¹

On the housing side, the Department of Commerce, the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, and local housing authorities must stop providing publicly funded housing benefits to noncitizens without legal status. Community Development Block Grants and Housing Choice Vouchers are specifically listed.¹

The Division of Employment Security must adopt a policy verifying that every unemployment compensation applicant is legally authorized to reside in the United States before any payments are issued. DHHS and the housing-related agencies were directed to develop updated eligibility criteria and immigration status verification methods and to report their plans to legislative oversight committees by January 15, 2026.¹

During debate, Senator Sophia Chitlik of Durham asked whether there was any evidence undocumented immigrants were accessing state-funded benefits, given they were already ineligible for food stamps, unemployment, and Social Security. Co-sponsor Buck Newton answered: “I’m not sure that we have any evidence at this stage. That’s why we want to conduct the audit — to ensure that that’s not what’s going on.”²

Sanctuary Cities, Lawsuits, and UNC Campuses

North Carolina counties and cities were already barred from adopting sanctuary ordinances. SB 153 adds a financial consequence for noncompliance: if a local government maintains a sanctuary policy and an undocumented immigrant commits a crime against a person or property within its jurisdiction, the local government waives its tort immunity and can be sued, even if it has not purchased liability insurance.³ Senate leader Phil Berger said the provision was designed to hold sanctuary cities “accountable” for crimes committed within their borders.⁴

The law also prohibits any UNC constituent institution from adopting policies that limit the enforcement of federal immigration laws, including restrictions on gathering or sharing citizenship and immigration status information with federal agencies.⁵

How It Became Law Despite the Veto

SB 153 was filed on February 24, 2025, by Berger and Senators Warren Daniel and Buck Newton.⁶ The Senate passed it in March, the House in June, and the Senate concurred in the House version on June 10, 2025.

Governor Stein vetoed the bill on June 20, 2025, arguing it “would make us less safe” by pulling state officers off their duties to “act as federal immigration agents,” and that people without lawful status were already blocked from Medicaid, SNAP, Section 8, and similar programs.⁷ The Senate overrode the veto 30–19 on July 29, 2025.⁶

The House override stalled for nearly a year. Republicans held 71 of 120 seats, one short of the three-fifths supermajority needed with every member present. On June 24, 2026, two non-Republican members were absent from the floor — Democrat Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe County and unaffiliated Representative Carla Cunningham of Mecklenburg County — which lowered the override threshold to 71. The override passed 71–47 along party lines, and SB 153 became law immediately.⁸

How SB 153 Differs From House Bill 318

SB 153 is often confused with House Bill 318, the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act, which also became law over Stein’s veto in 2025 as Session Law 2025-85. The two are separate statutes with different targets. HB 318 focuses on jails and courts: it compels local law enforcement to honor ICE detainer requests, requires judicial officials to check immigration status for people charged with felonies, Class A1 misdemeanors, or impaired driving, and directs jail administrators to notify ICE when they believe someone in custody is unlawfully present.⁹ SB 153 operates at the state agency level and reaches further, into public benefits, housing, university policy, and local government liability.

Criticism and What Opponents Say Will Happen

The ACLU of North Carolina called SB 153 a “blatant attack on immigrant communities” that forces state law enforcement to “contribute to the federal government’s cruel deportation campaign.”¹⁰

The North Carolina Justice Center argued the law would erode trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement, making it harder for agencies like the SBI to work with victims and witnesses in human trafficking and narcotics cases, and that authorizing the Highway Patrol to question people about immigration status would “almost certainly lead to racial profiling.” The organization cited research from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Cato Institute in arguing that 287(g) programs have not been shown to reduce crime and that a “large percentage” of individuals caught under such programs are targeted for minor misdemeanors or traffic offenses.¹¹

Senator Chitlik also noted that many immigrant families include both citizens and noncitizens, and argued that requiring state agencies to cooperate with ICE would deter legal residents from seeking help they are entitled to.² Senator Natalie Murdock of Durham had proposed an amendment that would have criminalized the impersonation of ICE officers and barred state and local law enforcement from conducting immigration enforcement at places of worship; Republicans substituted a technical corrections amendment in its place, effectively killing it.¹²

1
North Carolina General Assembly. Session Law 2026-19
2
WRAL. NC Senate Debates Border Protection Act
3
UNC School of Government. S 153 Bill Summary
4
Daily Tar Heel. SB 153 Immigration Bill
5
North Carolina General Assembly. Senate Bill 153 Original Filed Version
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North Carolina General Assembly. Senate Bill 153 Bill Lookup
7
Office of the Governor. Governor Stein Takes Action on Four Bills
8
WUNC. House Republicans Override Four of Gov. Stein’s Vetoes
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WUNC. Anti-Immigration Bills Set to Become NC Laws
10
ACLU of North Carolina. SB 153 Border Protection Act
11
NC Justice Center. NC Justice Center Opposes Senate Bill 153
12
News & Observer. NC Senate Passes Immigration Enforcement Bill