The policy of leniency towards undocumented immigrants practiced by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police could be challenged by the new administration under President-Elect, Donald Trump. It is uncertain how the department will react if Trump attempts to make good on the promises he made during his election campaign.
Trump has recently pledged to deport all criminal immigrants, which he claimed could be up to three million people. Before the election, he was even more ambitious, promising to deport the estimated 11 million who make up all undocumented immigrants currently living in the US. Rodney Monroe, then Police Chief of Charlotte, told City Council during 2015, that enforcing federal laws in regards to immigration was not a part of the mission of CMPD.
Monroe was talking about a civil rights resolution, which stated that the immigration status of a suspect would not be asked while in the middle of a routine police inquiry. However, the resolution went further than that, to have police officers refrain from reporting undocumented immigrants to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement even if an officer learnt of the legal status of an individual during the course of an investigation, except for instances involving terrorism or gangs.
The resolution was unanimously passed by City Council, and Charlotte has consequently been labeled a ‘sanctuary city’ by some pundits, though the city rejects the label. Cities that refuse to cooperate with a harsher immigration policy under Trump could lose federal funding.