Governor Pat McCrory vetoed two bills today.
One () known as the "Reclaiming NC Act" would have required undocumented immigrants to submit to criminal background checks and fingerprinting to obtain driving permits. It also would have allowed police to detain people they suspect of being undocumented for up to 24 hours. It was by NC's ACLU chapter and others. that he vetoed it due to a loophole that would allow businesses to hire more undocumented workers.
The second bill Gov. McCrory vetoed today () would have required drug testing for Work First applicants, a state program that provides financial assistance and job training to needy families. The ACLU of North Carolina and the N.C. Justice Center had from signing the bill, saying that it would violate the privacy of low-income people.
The Governor signed , however, that enforces sections of the bill that strengthen criminal background checks for welfare applicants. The executive order is called 鈥淪trengthening Fugitive Apprehension and Protecting Public Benefits."
鈥淲hile I support the efforts to ensure that fugitive felons are not on public assistance rolls, and to share information about them with law enforcement, other parts of this bill are unfair, fiscally irresponsible and have potential operational problems,鈥� Governor McCrory .
The bill would have required suspected drug users to pay for the drug testing themselves. Republican Representative Dean Arp of Monroe is the bill鈥檚 sponsor.
