Federal agents arrested at least 81 people in Charlotte in just five hours on Saturday, marking a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s mass deportation drive
Federal agents arrested at least81people inCharlotte, North Carolina, this weekend, a senior commander said on Sunday, marking a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
Gregory Bovino, the U.S.BorderPatrolofficial who ledimmigrationcrackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago before he arrived inCharlottethis week, said on social media early Sundaythat agents made the North Carolinaarrestswithin a roughly five-hour span on Saturday, theirfirstdayof operating inCharlotte. Many of those arrested had “significant criminal andimmigrationhistory,” Bovino wrote.
Neither theBorderPatrolnorImmigrationand Customs Enforcement immediately responded to requests for comment on Sunday. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees those agencies, did not respond to a request for comment.
Mass deportation and strict enforcement ofimmigrationlaws have been a key part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda. Since Trump, a Republican, took office in January, federalimmigrationagents have carried out raids in largely Democratic-run cities, along with more conservative rural areas.
The efforts have led to large protests in the impacted cities, with citizens often confrontingimmigrationagents as they attempt to detain those suspected of being in the United States illegally.Immigrationrights groups and others have accused the administration of illegally detaining scores of law-abiding citizens caught up in the raids.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, said in a video posted on social media on Sundaynight that undocumented and violent criminals should be deported, saying that “everyone wants to be safe in their community, but the actions of too many federal agents are doing the exact opposite inCharlotte.”
“We’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color, racially profiling and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks,” Stein said.
“Going after landscapers simply decorating a Christmas tree in someone’s front yard. And entering churches and stores to grab people. This is not makingussafer. It’s stoking fear and dividing our community,” he said.
DHS officials said on Saturdaythat the raids inCharlottewere a response to the refusal of local officials to comply with almost 1,400 “detainer” requests byimmigrationofficials to hold suspects for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily be released.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
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