- Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Fear is making people disappear from the legal process. People in North Carolina are avoiding courts, skipping consultations with lawyers, and leaving loved ones in custody far longer than necessary. The reason is not guilt. The reason is fear of what might happen if they do something that exposes them to scrutiny.
That fear is understandable. The political climate around immigration enforcement has shifted sharply, and misinformation spreads fast in communities that are already vulnerable. But avoiding the criminal court process rarely protects anyone. In many cases, it makes things significantly worse.
At Greenwood Law, our North Carolina immigration attorneys work with non-citizens, immigrant families, and individuals navigating criminal charges and immigration consequences in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, and throughout North Carolina. This page is not designed to minimize risks or promise outcomes. It is designed to explain how the system works, so that you and your family can make informed decisions rather than decisions driven by fear or rumors.
When someone is arrested in North Carolina, whether by Winston-Salem Police Department officers, Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputies, or another law enforcement agency, they are taken through a booking process. This typically involves fingerprinting, photographing, and recording personal information. The person then appears before a magistrate, a judicial official who is available around the clock and handles initial legal decisions shortly after arrests.
The magistrate performs several functions at this stage:
After the magistrate’s review, the case proceeds through the North Carolina court system. Criminal cases can take weeks or months to resolve. During that time, a defendant who has posted bond is generally free to live at home, work, and attend court dates as scheduled. Those who are unable to post bond, may sit in jail waiting for an outcome.
Immigration status has always been a factor in criminal cases involving non-citizens, but it was mostly in the background. However, North Carolina law changed as of October 1, 2025.
The law now requires a check to see if the defendant (the person charged with the crime) is a legal resident or U.S. citizen when determining conditions of pretrial release for certain offenses. It means that for specific charges, immigration status has become a formal part of the bond hearing process.
If legal status cannot be determined, the jail or judicial official must ask ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) about immigration status for defendants facing specific felony and Class A1 misdemeanors. Those charges include:
This does not mean that every arrest triggers an immigration inquiry. For many misdemeanor charges, the citizenship verification requirement may not apply at all. But it does mean that the criminal and immigration systems are now more formally connected in North Carolina than they were before.
What does this mean for the presumption of innocence? A person charged with a crime is still legally innocent until proven guilty. A citizenship question at a bond hearing does not change that standard. What it does is create an additional layer of exposure for non-citizens at a moment when they are already vulnerable. A knowledgeable criminal defense attorney at Greenwood Law can help you with this issue.
An ICE detainer, sometimes called an immigration hold, is a written request from ICE asking local law enforcement to do two things:
A few important distinctions:
Many families believe that posting bond will immediately hand their loved one over to ICE. Others believe that keeping a person in criminal custody protects them from immigration enforcement. Neither is correct.
Posting bond can, but not always, result in ICE custody right away:
Families often assume that if they post bond, ICE will be waiting at the jail door. That can happen. An immigration detainer is often lodged against a person before he or she can post bond. In those circumstances, if they post bond, the jail may transfer immediate custody to ICE.
Posting bond (or becoming otherwise eligible for release) starts the 48-hour clock. If ICE doesn’t have the resources or the scheduling available for a pickup, the person should be released.
Waiting out a misdemeanor charge in custody does not eliminate the 48-hour clock. It only delays it.
If the family decides to leave the person in jail rather than post bond, hoping to avoid the ICE detainer, the person sits in the Forsyth County Detention Center for days, weeks, or months. The moment they become eligible for release, that same 48-hour ICE clock starts. The outcome of the criminal case does not eliminate the detainer.
Many defendants don’t appear for their court dates because of fear of ICE picking them up. However, attending a scheduled criminal court date is not the same as walking into a deportation pipeline. Criminal court and immigration court are separate systems. A court date for a drug offense, an assault charge, or a DWI is a criminal proceeding. What happens there does not automatically trigger removal proceedings, even if an ICE detainer exists.
What does create serious problems is failing to appear for a criminal charge.
Missing a scheduled court appearance triggers serious consequences. The court issues an order for arrest, and any bond posted becomes subject to forfeiture. A willful failure to appear may create a new criminal charge, and a future release becomes much harder to obtain after a missed court date. The person who avoided court to stay safe may end up in a significantly worse legal positions.
Attending court, with an attorney present, is generally the best advice, no matter what kind of charge you are facing. In one documented Greensboro case, an individual was scheduled for an appearance at the Guilford County Courthouse on a DWI charge, and his attorney rescheduled the court date when he learned ICE agents were present at the courthouse.
When a criminal charge is dismissed, or when a person is found not guilty after trial, the criminal case ends. The immigration process is a separate issue. Immigration consequences can flow from an arrest record alone, from the nature of the underlying conduct, or from prior immigration history, even without a conviction.
Here is what different outcomes may mean:
The criminal defense system and the immigration system do not speak the same language. What looks like a favorable outcome in one may carry serious consequences in the other.
Practically speaking, if you are a non-citizen facing any criminal charge in North Carolina, you need both types of lawyers. Fortunately, the lawyers at Greenwood Law handle both types of cases.
Our law firm in Winston-Salem handles both criminal defense and immigration matters throughout the surrounding region, including helping clients with cases in Forsyth County courts and those with immigration concerns that extend beyond the immediate criminal charge.
Contact our law firm today to schedule a meeting with an experienced lawyer. You have too much to lose by not calling and getting the help you need.
Yes. If an active detainer exists when bond is posted, the jail may transfer custody directly to ICE rather than releasing the person. This is one of the key reasons to talk with an attorney before posting bond.
Under North Carolina law and federal regulations, the jail must release the person once the 48-hour window expires, assuming all other release conditions have been met. The detainer cannot be used to hold someone indefinitely.
Not automatically. But an active ICE detainer is not canceled by a dismissal. If ICE has filed a detainer and removal proceedings have begun, the outcome of the criminal case does not stop the immigration case.
You are generally required to appear at scheduled court dates. Failing to appear creates additional criminal exposure and makes your overall legal situation harder to resolve. While courthouse ICE enforcement has occurred in the Triad region, missing court is not a safe alternative because it can lead to additional criminal charges.
It can. Certain misdemeanor convictions, particularly those involving domestic violence, drug offenses, or crimes classified as involving moral turpitude, may have significant immigration consequences. The specific charge and how it is resolved makes a difference.
Yes, in some circumstances. Lawful permanent residents are not immune from removal. Certain convictions, including some felonies and specific misdemeanors, can result in deportation proceedings even for people who have held green cards for many years.
There is no universal answer. The decision depends on whether an active detainer exists, the nature of the criminal charges, the person’s immigration history, and other factors. Waiting in custody does not eliminate the ICE clock. Posting bond starts it. Both paths carry risk. Speak with an attorney before deciding.
