CHARLOTTE, N.C. (NewsNation) — U.S. Border Patrol agents are continuing to ramp up efforts in the latest urban federal immigration enforcement operation, at a time when 161,000 migrants who have previously been ordered to leave the United States are living in and around North Carolina’s largest city.
Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino is heading up the federal operation, which on Sunday led to 81 arrests over five hours. Bovino confirmed to NewsNation on Monday more than 130 immigrants who officials say are in the U.S. illegally have been arrested over the past two days.
Yet, as was the case for the previous two months in Chicago and before that in Los Angeles, Bovino is facing opposition from elected officials. That includes Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, who said the presence of what he calls “masked, heavily armed agents driving unmarked cars targeting American citizens” is not making the city safer.
Yet, Bovino is surging full speed ahead as DHS is setting up in a so-called “sanctuary” city where, according to data obtained from NewsNation, there are more than 6,300 immigrants who have criminal convictions in addition to the 161,003 migrants who have previously been ordered to leave the U.S., and those who have pending orders of removal.
Despite the numbers, the federal operation is drawing mixed reactions. Stein said on X that Border Patrol agents are racially profiling people and picking up “random” people in parking lots and off city sidewalks.
“This is not making us safer,” the governor said in a video posted to the social platform. “It’s stoking fear and dividing our communities.”
Stein acknowledged in a previous social media post the presence of violent criminals, whom the governor says he wants out of the state. But he said the actions of federal agents who have shifted their focus to Charlotte are going too far.
Garry McFadden, the sheriff in Mecklenburg County, agrees. He, too, wants to see dangerous criminals taken off of local streets. He welcomes efforts to remove convicted criminals who are trafficking humans and illicit drugs like fentanyl into the country. But he also believes that the way he says DHS officials are making the operations a numbers game is unacceptable.
McFadden told NewsNation that his office has always cooperated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is mandated for sheriff’s offices by state law. But he said that the presence of federal officers and agents is stoking fear among residents and accuses the Trump administration of targeting Black Democratic sheriffs like himself.
McFadden said that while his department has no role in the immigration enforcement crackdown, his deputies will not get in the way of federal agents doing their jobs.
“So yes, take the people who are committing murders and the violent,” McFadden told NewsNation. “And as they say so much, the worst (of the worst) first, if they do that, then I believe they will get better support. But if they take a 16-year-old, a mother who is just trying to get support.m you will get backlash.”
However, elected officials like Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Harris disagree with the political pushback, calling the immigration enforcement effort important.
“The criminals they are getting off the street need to happen,” Harris, a Baptist minister, said. “And I am very thankful they are doing their job.
He added, “They are here to enforce the law. They’re here to do their jobs and we support them like we support our police in the city of Charlotte.”
Are federal agents helping to drive down crime in cities like Charlotte?
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks told NewsNation last week that federal agents are well-equipped to operate in urban environments like Charlotte and New Orleans, where Bovino’s operation is scheduled to travel after they leave Charlotte. No timeline has been established, but Banks said that more than 2,000 Border Patrol agents are spread across at least 25 American cities.
Banks said that no U.S. city is safe and said the federal agency will not allow Democrat-run cities to provide sanctuary to migrants being targeted by DHS.
Harris, the Republican representative, insists that the federal agents will help drive down crime in Charlotte. He says that the city’s Uptown neighborhood has seen a 200% surge in homicides recently. Last month, however, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said that the third quarter of this year saw an 8% drop in overall crime and a 20% drop in violent crimes.
The department reported that homicides have decreased by 24% while other crimes like aggravated assaults (19%) and robberies (20%) also fell in the third quarter of this year.
The reaction to the Charlotte operation is also mixed when it comes to those living here. Over the weekend, protesters participated in organized marches and followed federal agents through wooded areas. As was the case in Chicago’s Hispanic-populated neighborhoods, some Charlotte-area residents say they are afraid to leave their homes.
“I’ve been in contact with people who, a lot of friends and family and acquaintances who say that they’re not going out, they’re having their kids who are citizens go and pick up their clothes and food for them,” Carlos Magaña, who lives in Concord, told NewsNation. “It’s terrifying to pretty much know that at any moment a federal agent can just come out and abuse you just because of the way you look, you know.”
Louisa Grant, who lives in Charlotte, accused federal agents of taking migrants working landscape jobs or putting up holiday lights off the street.
“You know, it’s crazy,” Grant said. “This is ridiculous.”
Willy Aceituno, an American citizen living in Charlotte, said he was thrown to the ground by federal agents. He told me that it happened after agents asked him where he was born.
“It doesn’t matter where I was born. I’m an American citizen,” he told NewsNation. “They threw me to the ground, and I always have my papers with me in my bag. They didn’t care, I told them (about being an American). Many times. They put me in the patrol car, and every time, even in the patrol car, I told them, ‘I’m an American citizen, I’m an American citizen.’ They wanted to know where I was born, or they didn’t believe I was an American citizen.”