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Federal immigration officials will expand their enforcement action North Carolina As soon as he arrived in Raleigh on Tuesday, the mayor of the state capital said, while Customs and Border Protection agents continue to work charlotte More than 130 people were arrested in that city over the weekend.
mayor Janet Cowell said Monday that she did not know how large the operation would be or how long agents would be present. Immigration officials have not said anything about this. The Democrat said in a statement that crime was down in Raleigh this year compared to last year and that public safety was a priority for him and the City Council.
“I ask Raleigh to remember our values and maintain peace and respect during any upcoming challenges,” Cowell said in a statement.
US immigration agents arrested more than 130 people over the weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, a federal official said Monday.
These movements in North Carolina come after the Trump administration launched immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago. They’re both deep blue cities in deep blue states that are run by nationally prominent officials who don’t hide their anger at the White House. The political logic there seemed clear.
But why only North Carolina and why was Charlotte the first target there?
The mayor is a Democrat, of course, as is the governor, but neither are known for getting involved in national political battles. In a state where divided government has become the norm, Governor Josh Stein has worked especially hard to get along with the GOP-controlled state legislature. The state’s two U.S. senators are both Republicans, and the President donald trump Won the state in the last three presidential elections.
The Department of Homeland Security has said it is focusing on North Carolina because of so-called sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents.
But perhaps focusing on a place where politics were less outwardly bloody was part of the equation.
“There may be substantial opposition (to its action) in the White House, but it’s a weaker version than what it faced in places like Chicago,” said Rick Su, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law who studies local government, immigration and federalism.
“They’re not just interested in deporting people. They’re interested in the show,” he said.
action
The Trump administration has made Charlotte, a Democratic city of about 950,000 people, its latest focus for increased immigration enforcement that it says will combat crime despite local opposition and a declining crime rate. Residents reported encounters with immigration agents near churches, apartment complexes and stores.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Border Patrol officers have arrested “more than 130 illegal aliens who have broken immigration laws”. The agency said the records of those arrested included gang membership, aggravated assault, shoplifting and other crimes, but did not say how many cases resulted in convictions, how many people were facing charges or any other details.
The leaders of the area expressed strong objection to this action.
“We have seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb, driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on the color of their skin,” Stein said in a video statement late Sunday. “This is not making us safer. It is creating fear and dividing our community.”
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said Monday that she was “deeply concerned” by the video she saw of the crackdown, but added that she appreciated the peacefulness of protesters.
“To everyone in Charlotte who is feeling anxious or fearful: You are not alone. Your city stands with you,” he said in a statement.
Debate on crime and immigration
Charlotte and surrounding Mecklenburg County have found themselves part of America’s debate over crime and immigration, two of the most important issues for the White House.
The most prominent incident was the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light-rail train this summer, an attack captured on video. While the suspect was from the US, the Trump administration repeatedly highlighted that he had been arrested more than a dozen times before.
Charlotte, which had a Republican mayor as recently as 2009, is now a city dominated by Democrats, with a growing population due to a booming economy. Officials say the racially diverse city includes more than 150,000 foreign-born residents.
Lyles easily won a fifth term as mayor earlier this month, defeating his Republican opponent by 45 percentage points, while GOP critics criticized city and state leaders for rising crime rates. After the Nov. 4 election, Democrats are set to hold 10 of the other 11 City Council seats.
While the Department of Homeland Security has said it is focusing on the state because of sanctuary policies, North Carolina county jails have long honored “detainers,” or requests from federal authorities to hold arrested immigrants for a limited amount of time so agents can take them into custody. Nevertheless, some general, noncooperation policies exist in some places, including Charlotte, where police do not help with immigration enforcement.
In Mecklenburg County, the jail did not honor detainers’ requests for years until a state law effectively mandated it last year.
DHS said nearly 1,400 detainees in North Carolina have not been honored since October 2020, putting the public at risk.
For years, Mecklenburg Sheriff Gary McFadden resisted efforts by the Republican-controlled state legislature to force him and a handful of sheriffs in other urban counties to accept ICE detainees.
Republicans ultimately overrode the veto of then Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper Late last year for the bill to become law.
While McFadden has said his office is complying with the law’s requirements, he continued to have a public dispute with ICE leaders in early 2025 that led to a new state law tightening those rules. Stein vetoed that measure, but the veto was overruled.
Republican House Speaker Destin Hall said in a Monday post on X that immigration agents are in Charlotte because of McFadden’s past inaction: “They are taking steps to clean up his mess and restore safety to the city.”
Last month, McFadden said he had a productive meeting with an ICE representative.
“I have made it clear that I do not want to stop ICE from doing their job, but I do want them to do it safely, responsibly, and with appropriate coordination by notifying our agency ahead of time,” McFadden said in a statement.
But such things do not calm the political atmosphere.
“Democrats at all levels are choosing to protect criminal illegals instead of the citizens of North Carolina,” state GOP Chairman Jason Simmons said Monday.
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Sullivan reported from Minneapolis and Robertson from Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press writers Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.