By ALLEN G. BREED and ERIK VERDUZCO Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The latest city bracing for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is Charlotte, North Carolina, which could see an influx of federal agents as early as this weekend, a county sheriff said Thursday.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said in a statement that two federal officials confirmed a plan for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to start an enforcement operation Saturday or early next week in North Carolina’s largest city. His office declined to identify those officials. McFadden said details about the operation haven’t been disclosed and his office hasn’t been asked to assist.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin declined to comment, saying, “Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country. We do not discuss future or potential operations.”
President Donald Trump has defended sending the military and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and even the nation’s capital, saying the unprecedented operations are needed to fight crime and carry out his mass deportation agenda.
Charlotte is another such Democratic stronghold. A statement of solidarity from several local and state officials estimated the city is home to more than 150,000 foreign-born people. The city’s population is about 40% white, 33% Black, 16% Hispanic and 7% Asian.
The Trump administration has used this summer’s fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutskahas on a light-rail train in Charlotte as proof that Democratic-led cities fail to protect their residents from violent crime. A man with a lengthy criminal record has been charged with murder.
Activists, faith leaders, and local and state officials say they already started preparing the immigrant community for a crackdown, sharing information about resources and attempting to calm fears. Nearly 500 people participated in a call organized by the group CharlotteEAST on Wednesday.
“The purpose of this call was to create a mutual aid network,” said City Councilmember-Elect JD Mazuera Arias. CharlotteEAST executive director Greg Asciutto urged residents to connect with groups providing support.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has clarified that it “has no authority to enforce federal immigration laws,” and is not involved in planning or carrying out these operations.
Mazuera Arias and others said they had already begun receiving unconfirmed reports of what appeared to be plainclothes officers in neighborhoods and on transit.
“This is some of the chaos that we also saw in Chicago,” state Sen. Caleb Theodros, who represents Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, said Thursday.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol chief who led Customs and Border Protection’s recent Chicago operation and was central to the immigration operation in Los Angeles, had been coy about where agents would target next.
The Trump administration’s “ Operation Midway Blitz ” began in the Chicago area in early September, over the objections of local leaders. It initially involved limited arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the suburbs but expanded to include hundreds of Customs and Border Protection agents.
Their tactics grew increasingly aggressive. More than 3,200 people suspected of violating immigration laws have been arrested across the region.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both immigration agencies, has offered few details on the arrests beyond highlighting a handful of people who were living in the U.S. without legal permission and had criminal records.
The group Indivisible Charlotte and the Carolina Migrant Network will train volunteers Friday on what rights people have when interacting with immigration authorities and how to spot federal immigration agents.
“They’re not always wearing vests that say ‘ICE,’” said Tony Siracusa, spokesperson for Indivisible Charlotte.
The groups will also discuss potential “pop up protests,” but he stressed that the activists weren’t encouraging people to go get arrested.
Siracusa said locals are “not freaking out, but very definitely concerned.”
Daniela Andrade, communications director at the Carolina Migrant Network, noted that organizers canceled a Hispanic heritage festival this year out of concerns about immigration enforcement. The group had been holding in-person “know your rights” sessions for immigrants since the beginning of the year but switched to virtual events even before Thursday’s news.
“It’s the concern of family separation, of being removed from a community where many people have lived here for years,” she said.
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Breed reported from Wake Forest, North Carolina. Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.