Nov. 19 (UPI) — Charlotte, N.C., is now the focus of immigration enforcement, and it’s causing chaos in the city, as well as other parts of the state.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began enforcement of federal immigration laws in Charlotte on Saturday. On Monday, a press release said it had rounded up 130 “illegal aliens” in its raids, which it has dubbed “Charlotte’s Web.”
“Illegal aliens with criminal histories and warrants don’t hang out in front of big box hardware stores? Well, then, how did we find this illegal alien from Honduras there?” Greg Bovino, commander-at-large of the agency, said on social media.
Federal agents smashed the window of a truck and pulled the driver — a U.S. citizen — to the ground, thousands of public school students are staying home from school and businesses are closing, USA Today reported.
The raids are in response to Charlotte’s refusal to cooperate with the federal government on immigration, CBP said.
“Sanctuary policies prevented nearly 1,400 detainers from being honored, putting criminal illegal aliens back on Charlotte’s streets,” a press release from Saturday said.
But Charlotte is not a sanctuary city, USA Today reported. North Carolina has strict immigration laws.
“No cities in the state have sanctuary policies; if they did they would be violating state law,” Rick Su, a professor of law at the University of North Carolina, told USA Today. He specializes in immigration and local government.
No city in North Carolina was on the Justice Department’s list of sanctuary jurisdictions.
“There is absolutely no excuse to continue allowing criminal illegal aliens to terrorize our American communities,” said a DHS spokesperson, who wasn’t named, in a press release.
“These are violent assailants, gang members and repeat offenders who have zero regard for the rule of law in our country. They are here illegally and should never have been here in the first place. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are REMOVING the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our communities once and for all.”
On Wednesday, Edward Cramer, a construction supervisor, told CBS 17 that he saw federal agents take two of his workers in Cary, a suburb of Raleigh.
“The guy walked out of the building,” Cramer said. “They snatched him and put him in the van.”
“They grabbed one of those boys,” he said. “About a half-mile up the road, they looked at his wallet and saw he was a citizen. They pulled him out of the van and threw his wallet out the window. He had to walk back here.”
“There’s not a lot of workers outside,” said Kevin Rodriguez, who works for a roofing company in Charlotte, to the Charlotte News and Observer. “A lot of people didn’t show up. Maybe some of them are legal here and maybe some of them aren’t, but everybody’s getting profiled due to skin color.
“It’s a little bit scary having to look over your shoulder every once in a while nowadays because of your skin tone,” Rodriguez said. “American citizen or not.”
David Ravin, CEO of developer Northwood Ravin, told the News and Observer that his subcontractors were reporting numerous absences Monday.
“We have three active projects under construction in Charlotte and between the three, we would typically have 300 to 400 people on site,” he said. “We probably had 30 total.”
Ravin reiterated that the lack of workers doesn’t mean the workers are undocumented. “The sensation around Border Patrol and what they’ve been doing has put a fear into a lot of people who don’t want to put themselves in a situation,” Ravin said.
Some locals are fighting back.
Agents’ tires have been slashed in Charlotte, and they are being tracked by local activist groups.
“If this were [agents] coming in and they had a list of people they were specifically targeting, that they were going after, and that’s all they were doing, that would be one thing,” Terry Brown, North Carolina State House Democratic whip, told NewsNation.
“But we have seen is they are at shopping centers, Home Depot, they are at restaurants, in neighborhoods. And they are asking people, ‘Do you have your papers? Do you speak English? Are you here illegally?’ and I think that is a bridge too far.”