{"id":21908,"date":"2019-09-13T14:15:22","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T18:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=21908"},"modified":"2019-09-13T14:15:24","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T18:15:24","slug":"elections-nc-9-sanctuary-policy-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/09\/13\/elections-nc-9-sanctuary-policy-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"In a Tight Election, Did Sanctuary Policy Have a Deciding Factor?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tuesday\u2019s special election in North Carolina was cast by pundits and analysts cast as a test of President Trump\u2019s standing<\/a> among voters and a glimpse into the 2020 elections. A win by Republican state Sen. Dan Bishop won would be positive for the president and his party who lost traction in the suburbs in 2018. While a victory for Democratic businessman Dan McCready in a district which had voted Republican since 1963 would be seen as a signal of emerging Democratic strengths in the suburbs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of election day, it turned out the clich\u00e9 \u2013 it\u2019s all about turnout \u2013 carried the day. With two of the final polls split between McCready leading<\/a> and Bishop holding a slight advantage in the other<\/a>, control of the 9th<\/sup> congressional district was up for grabs. Having won the district by 12 points in 2016, President Trump and Vice President Pence decided a high profile appearance<\/a> could make a difference in the closing hours. It did and the Republican Bishop managed to secure a 2-point victory<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the campaign, McCready, a former Marine, remained a disciplined messenger by hitting on kitchen-table issues designed to exploit the fact that Trump\u2019s approval had fallen from 52 percent<\/a> approval in 2018 to 47 percent in the most recent Inside Elections poll<\/a>, particularly among suburban voters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on the issue of immigration, McCready had been indecisive. During a radio appearance<\/a> in which he was asked about Republican Gov. Roy Cooper\u2019s decision to veto<\/a> legislation requiring to local law enforcement to honor detainer requests from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), McCready tried to deflect the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He asserted that Bishop was playing \u201cpartisan,\npolitical games,\u201d but eventually backed the decision, saying, \u201cThis bill was\nvetoed, which was the right call.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To no one\u2019s surprise, President Trump seized on the comment with a tweet<\/a> saying Bishop\u2019s \u201copponent believes in Open Borders and Sanctuary Cities,\u201d a charge he went back to in his Monday rally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCready spokesman Matt Fried weakly insisted\nin an email<\/a> to PolitFact that his boss \u201cdoesn\u2019t\nsupport a \u2018sanctuary city.\u2019 Violent criminals belong in jail in every city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked for his views on \u201climiting legal immigration,\u201d McCready\nseemed confused by the question and then offered a similarly confusing\nresponse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to focus on this actually one point here,\u201d he said<\/a>, adding that \u201cthere needs to be a pathway based on family,\u201d but there \u201cshould also be a pathway based on skills and professional skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democrat had tried to stay far away from details on immigration and even father away from his party\u2019s leaders, so Trump came in with the counterpunch. In his Monday rally, Trump thumped<\/a> Democrats and McCready. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casting the vote as one between a candidate who\u2019d been running ads<\/a> targeting sanctuary sheriffs in the state, and one who, Trump charged, supported \u201csanctuary city policies that force prisons and jails to release criminal aliens directly into your neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indictment resonated with the audience more strongly in light of a new report disclosing<\/a> that almost 500 illegal immigrants were released from North Carolina jails in the last 10 months because local sheriffs declined to cooperate with ICE detainer requests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the crimes allegedly committed by the illegal\naliens were sex offenses, kidnapping, arson and homicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just days ago, another foreign national was arrested<\/a> in the Charlotte, N.C. area as part of a multi-state ICE operation targeting suspected human rights violators and war criminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did Trump push Bishop over the finish line as he claimed? Or did Bishop eke out a victory because fewer Democrats came out to vote in key counties? It probably was a mix of both. It is likely, however, that North Carolina will continue to showcase key battles between Republicans and Democrats in 2020 and immigration will be at the center of those fights. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday\u2019s special election in North Carolina was cast by pundits and analysts cast as a test of President Trump\u2019s standing among voters and a glimpse into the 2020 elections. A win by Republican state Sen. Dan Bishop won would be positive for the president and his party who lost traction in the suburbs in 2018.<\/p>\n

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