From Staff Reports 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Buncombe County, along with four other North Carolina counties, “no longer appears on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's latest ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’ list that was released on Aug. 5, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on Aug. 6.

“This comes after DHS included Buncombe County on its initial version of the list on May 29, 2025,” News 13  noted. “The list was removed from the DHS website a few days later.”

According to the White House, the list of "sanctuary jurisdictions" identifies states and municipalities that it claims obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

“After the May 29 list was released, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller called for the county's removal from the list, claiming it to be ‘inaccurate,’” News 13 stated.

“In a letter addressed to Sen. Thom Tillis, Sheriff Miller said the ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’ label accuses his office of ‘refusing to cooperate with the federal law enforcement’ and claims that the sheriff's office is shielding dangerous criminals who are here illegally.

"BCSO deputies will not be arrest and detaining persons to solely investigate immigration status without probable cause of an independent crime, that is racially profiling and unconstitutional," Miller said in a February 2025 social media video.

“Miller said that his office adheres to House Bill 10 (HB10), a state law that requires law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officers after a crime has been committed,” News 13 noted.

"Since the passage of House Bill 10, we've had 15 detainees that we've contacted ICE about, one of which is still in our custody, and we've just released one to ICE," Miller said in a social media video posted on June 4.