At least 81 people in Charlotte, North Carolina, were reportedly arrested by federal agents this weekend, a top commander said Sunday. The development marked a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
Gregory Bovino, a U.S. Border Patrol agent who led immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago before arriving in Charlotte this week, was quoted by Reuters on social media early Sunday morning as saying agents made the arrests in about five hours on Saturday, their first day of operations in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Many of those arrested had “significant criminal and immigration histories,” Bovino wrote.
The Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees those agencies, did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s mass deportation
Mass deportations and strict enforcement of immigration laws have been a key part of US President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda.
Since Trump, a Republican, took office in January, federal immigration agents have been conducting raids in predominantly Democratic cities along with more conservative rural areas.
The effort has led to large protests in affected cities, with citizens often confronted by immigration agents who attempt to detain people suspected of being in the United States illegally. Immigrant rights groups and others have accused the administration of illegally detaining many law-abiding citizens caught up in the raids.
DHS officials said Saturday that the raids in Charlotte were in response to local officials refusing to comply with nearly 1,400 requests from immigration officials to “detain” and detain suspects for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would normally be released.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, and city commissioners urged people to seek help, including from the Charlotte and Mecklenburg County police departments, which are not involved in the federal raids.
(With inputs from Reuters)
