A North Carolina legislative hearing took an unexpected turn when Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, a longtime critic of cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), appeared unable to answer a basic civics question about which branch of government he operates under.
The exchange occurred during a House Oversight Committee hearing convened after the killing of 21-year-old Ukrainian national Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte. Republican state Rep. Allen Chesser questioned McFadden about his role and legal responsibilities.
Chesser asked, “What branch of government do you operate under?”
McFadden responded, “Mecklenburg County.”
Chesser pressed again, asking which branch of government he fell under. McFadden replied, “The Constitution of the United States.” Chesser clarified that the Constitution establishes the branches of government and again asked which branch applied to the sheriff.
After repeating “Mecklenburg County,” McFadden was asked how many branches of government there are. He replied, “No.”
Chesser then laid out the options—legislative, executive, and judicial—and asked which one applied. McFadden answered, “I believe I fall under the last one … judicial.”
“You are incorrect, sir. You fall under the executive,” Chesser said.
Chesser then questioned how McFadden reconciles his duty as an executive officer to enforce the law with his past public opposition to cooperating with ICE. He cited a previous statement by McFadden in which the sheriff said, “We do not have a role in enforcement whatsoever, we do not have to follow the rules and the laws that are governed by our lawmakers in Raleigh.”
McFadden said the quote was taken out of context and applied only to immigration enforcement. He added that his office is now complying with state law requiring cooperation with ICE detainers, stating, “We follow the law, when the law is produced, we follow the law.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital after the hearing, Chesser said he was surprised by the exchange.
“I was not expecting to have to get into a fifth-grade civics lesson with a duly elected sheriff,” Chesser said. He explained that he intended to question McFadden about statements that appeared to conflict with his testimony about following state law but was sidetracked by what he viewed as a fundamental misunderstanding of government structure.
Chesser, an Army veteran and former police officer, said McFadden has made himself “a centerpiece in the refusal to enforce immigration law” in North Carolina, arguing the core issue is the sheriff’s resistance to enforcing state laws that mandate cooperation with ICE.
Referring to the killing of Zarutska, Chesser said public safety should not vary by county.
“I think all North Carolinians, and all people who find themselves in North Carolina, should be able to count on one thing when it comes to public safety,” he said. “Whether or not the law will be enforced should not depend on what county you’re in.”
