Mecklenburg Democratic State House member Carla Cunningham held a contentious town hall Monday night, answering constituents' questions about her recent vote with Republican lawmakers to override Gov. Stein's veto and require sheriffs to work closer with Immigration and Customs and Enforcement.
Roughly 100 people came to the town hall at Rockwell AME Zion Church, mostly to question and oppose Cunningham.
Last month, she sided with Republicans to override Stein’s veto of House Bill 318, which will require sheriffs to hold undocumented people who have been arrested for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. That's meant to ensure ICE agents can take them into custody.
While her vote with the GOP upset Democrats, it was Cunningham's speech on the House floor that angered people the most and drew the harshest criticism.
During the override debate, Cunningham said all cultures are not equal and that immigrants need to assimilate.
On Sunday, Cunningham was asked whether she would change anything about how she voted or delivered her message.
Her answer was defiant.
“No, I wouldn’t change a thing about it,” she said.
The crowd jeered.
“I wouldn’t,” she continued. “I am being authentic. I am speaking my truth. I am also elected (and) nothing I am going to do is going to be perfect. I am human too.”
At that point, someone in the crowd shouted at her: “Are immigrants human?”
At another point during the town hall, the crowd jeered so much that Cunningham threatened to end the town hall early. Some people did leave, but she continued to answer questions. The entire town hall lasted about one hour.
Someone asked if she still considered herself aligned with the Democratic Party.
“I don’t consider myself aligned with any party,” Cunningham said. “I consider myself as a person that looks at the information I am given and sees if it’s beneficial to my community and then makes a decision.”
Cunningham, a registered nurse, represents District 106 in northeast Charlotte. She’s been in the General Assembly since 2013.
She is known as a moderate-to-conservative Democrat and has sided with the GOP before. Last year, she voted with the GOP to override former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of HB 10, which expanded private school vouchers and also required sheriffs to work with ICE.
In her town hall, she pointed out that she had voted for HB 10 earlier that year and then easily won reelection.
She also said her views on immigration were shaped, in part, due to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Another person in the audience asked if she supports “removing all immigrants from North Carolina?”
Cunningham said “I do not support illegal immigrants. I support legal immigrants. I have not voted for a bill to remove all immigrants."
