The federal 287(g) program figures into the state Senate race between Alamance County Democratic incumbent Tony Foriest and Republican challenger Rick Gunn.

The state Democratic Party is weighing in against a Gunn TV ad portraying Foriest as voting against bills fighting illegal immigration, most notably the bill that allows North Carolina prisons to release nonviolent offenders to the federal Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation after they have served at least half of their sentence, which overwhelmingly passed both the House and Senate.