‘She’s a liar’: Charleston County sheriff refutes Mace’s claims of mishandling immigration enforcement

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)- Sheriff Kristin Graziano (D) did not hold back as she skewered Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) over allegations that the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is releasing undocumented immigrants accused of crimes from the Al Cannon Detention Center.

Graziano, who is running for reelection against Republican Carl Ritchie, blasted Mace as “full of s—” while speaking briefly with reporters at the agency’s headquarters on Wednesday morning.

“She is in a position where she controls Congress and has failed to do her job and is trying to make her failures our problem,” she said. “She needs to do her damn job and let law enforcement do ours.”

“She’s a liar and this is reckless,” Graziano added.

Mace sent a letter to the sheriff’s office on Sept. 24, accusing the agency of ignoring immigration holds from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which are requests to law enforcement to detain a person for up to 48 hours before releasing them to give ICE time to take custody and potentially remove that person from the country.

The congresswoman, who is seeking a third term representing South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, further claimed the sheriff’s office had released illegal immigrants into the community and by doing so was “purposefully putting local residents at risk” of danger.

“One recent case involved an illegal alien charged with two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor,” Mace claimed. “Despite these serious charges, the Sheriff’s Office refused to honor the ICE detainer, releasing the individual on bond, further endangering the community.”

Mace also alleged that the sheriff’s office has ignored dozens of detainer requests since 2021, noting that the agency is labeled an “uncooperative institution” by ICE. That designation is shared by more than 550 institutions nationwide, according to a June report.

“From the moment you were sworn in as Sheriff, you have systematically dismantled immigration enforcement in Charleston County,” Mace wrote to Graziano. “You have also made every possible effort to turn Charleston County into a sanctuary jurisdiction.”

Amber Allen, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, disputed that claim on Wednesday.

“We are still researching what she is alluding to,” Allen said, challenging Mace to produce the whistleblower that she says alerted her to the incident. “We are confident that if something did happen regarding that incident that we followed policy and procedure.”

In an earlier response to Mace’s letter, Graziano was adamant that her agency has not released a detainee without a judge’s order nor have they refused any orders, suggesting that Mace was “mischaracterizing events” for political gain.

“The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office — as well as any other law enforcement officer in this state — cannot and has never been able to legally arrest someone because of their immigration (civil) legal status,” the Sept. 24 statement read. “Our policy clearly states, on our public website, that: ‘The SACDC will only hold residents for ICE if they have an I-247, a detainer and Immigration Order signed by an Immigration Judge. The Immigration Judge’s order does not have an expiration and will be honored to hold the resident.'”

There are currently 13 individuals housed in the Al Cannon Detention Center that are on a hold by an immigration judge, according to the sheriff’s office.

Graziano dissolved the 287(g) agreement between the sheriff’s office and ICE as one of her first official acts after taking office in 2021.

The optional agreement purports to “enhance the safety and security of communities by focusing resources on identifying and processing removable aliens who have been arrested and booked into the [law enforcement agency’s] jail/correctional facilities.” Participating law enforcement agencies select members to be trained to perform some limited functions of an immigration officer.

“The change that happened when we rescinded 287(g) is that we required ICE to have an immigration judge’s signature in order for someone to be put on a detainer or a hold in our facility,” Allen explained.

Allen said the federal government does not cover the entire cost of the program and Charleston County taxpayers were left footing the bill, one of the primary reasons the agreement was ended.

“To participate in 287(G) costs a lot of money on the Charleston County taxpayers and it is a huge demand to our workforce at the detention center,” she added.

Only three jurisdictions in South Carolina — Horry, Lexington, and York counties — currently have 287(g) agreements in place, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Mace has demanded copies of all communications between ICE and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office with an Oct. 15 deadline. She has not specified what action, if any, she would take if the documentation is not provided by then.

“I believe all whistleblowers,” Mace told News 2 in response to Graziano’s comments. “Also, the data doesn’t lie. I look forward to receiving copies of her and her agencies [sic] communications.”

This story is developing and may be updated.