Border Patrol commander touts dozens of North Carolina arrests leaving residents ‘overwhelmed’
Upper Border Patrol commander He touted dozens of arrests in North Carolina’s largest city on Sunday Charlotte residents reported encounters with federal immigration officers near churches and apartment complexes.
The Trump administration has made the Democratic city of about 950,000 its headquarters. final destination Despite the strong objections of local leaders, it is stated that crime will be fought to increase sanctions against immigrants. decreasing crime rates.
Gregory BovinoTrump, who led hundreds of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in a similar operation in Chicago, documented some of the arrests on social media, which he said totaled more than 80 people. He released photos of what the Trump administration commonly refers to as “criminal illegal aliens,” people who live in the United States without legal permission and have alleged criminal records. Among them was a man who was allegedly convicted of drunk driving.
“We arrested him and removed him from the streets of Charlotte so he cannot continue to ignore our laws and drive drunk on the same roads you and your loved ones travel,” Bovino wrote to X.
This effort was called “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” a play on the title of a famous children’s book not related to North Carolina. But the movement raised questions about where detainees would be held, how long the operation would last and what agent tactics heavily criticized elsewhere would look like in North Carolina.
Bovino’s operations in Chicago and Los Angeles triggered a flurry of lawsuits and investigations into questions regarding the use of force, including the use of large-scale weapons. chemical agents. Democratic leaders in both cities said the agents’ presence increased tensions in the community and led to violence. Federal agents during Chicago area operation was fatally shot A suburban man attempts a traffic stop.
Bovino and other Trump administration officials said the use of force was appropriate given the escalating threats to agents’ lives.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, did not respond to questions about the Charlotte arrests. A spokesman for Bovino did not return a request for comment Sunday.
Elsewhere, DHS did not offer many details about who it arrested. In Chicago, for example, the agency released names and details of only some of the more than 3,000 arrests made in the metro area from September through last week. In many cases, US citizens were handcuffed and detained during operations; Dozens of demonstrators have also been charged in community clashes, often resulting from arrests or protests.
By Sunday, reports of CBP activities were “overwhelming” and difficult to quantify, Greg Asciutto, executive director of community development group CharlotteEast, said in an email.
“Over the last two hours we have received numerous reports of CBP activity at churches, apartment complexes and a hardware store,” he said.
Councilman-elect J.D. Mazuera Arias said federal agents are focusing on churches and apartment complexes.
“Places of worship. I mean, that’s bad,” he said. “They are a refuge for people seeking hope and faith in such dark times, who no longer feel safe due to the gross violation of their right to worship.”
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Tareen and Dale reported from Chicago. Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland.
