By ERIK VERDUZCO Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Officials and community leaders opposing a pending federal immigration crackdown in North Carolina’s largest city characterized it Friday as an invasion, and urged Charlotte residents to protest peacefully and record agents’ actions from a distance.
“We are living in the strangest of times,” said Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, the granddaughter and wife of immigrants. “A time when a felonious reality TV personality is occupying the White House. Unfortunately, we have seen this movie before, and now they want to film an episode of Shock and Awe show here in our city.”
The gathering comes a day after Sheriff Garry McFadden confirmed that federal officials, whom he declined to identify, told him U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents would start an enforcement operation there by Saturday or early next week. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, won’t comment on future or potential operations. But the community is preparing for the types of enforcement actions seen in Chicago and other Democratic-led cities.
“We’ve seen what has taken place in other cities across this country when the federal government gets involved,” said state Rep. Jordan Lopez. “We have seen the undisciplined agents pointing weapons at unarmed civilians, the indiscriminate rounding up of civilians who are sleeping in their homes in the middle of their night in Chicago. We have seen the worst of law enforcement.”
Local and state officials say they have received no formal notification from President Donald Trump’s administration about a mission to Charlotte. But local organizations are training volunteers on how to protest and to safely document any attempts to perform a sweep, as well as informing immigrants of their rights.
Héctor Vaca, training and immigrant justice director for the group Action NC, said they’re reacting to an “invasion” and “racist campaign of terror” by the Trump administration.
Trump has defended sending the National Guard 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.
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat with a Republican-majority legislature, said Friday the “vast majority” of those detained in these operations have no criminal convictions, and some are American citizens.”
“If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe long after these federal agents leave,” Stein said. “That’s the North Carolina way.”
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 Zarutska 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 in that case.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has clarified that it doesn’t have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws and isn’t involved in planning or carrying out such operations.
Council member-elect JD Mazuera Arias, a Colombian who grew up in the U.S. and became a naturalized citizen in 2021, said he knows what it’s like to fear a knock at the door and pledged that local resources and tax dollars won’t go toward immigration enforcement operations. He said sweeps like those in Chicago have been about “quotas” and “control,” not public safety or rounding up hardened criminals.
“Our Queen City will not become a staging ground for fear,” said the incoming councilman, who ran to represent East Charlotte, an area with a large immigrant population. “We will not confuse cruelty with safety. And we will not allow the politics of intimidation to define who belongs here.”
Cameron Pruette, executive director of the city’s Freedom Center for Social Justice, urged listeners to shop at immigrant-owned businesses and to “peacefully and prayerfully and with moral clarity take action in this moment.”
“We have seen Border Patrol use helicopters on civilian buildings and not apologize,” he said. “This is about the color of someone’s skin, about where they come from, and about causing fear and division. So, I ask everyone: Take action, stand together, and we will get through this.”
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Associated Press reporter Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, contributed to this report.