(NewsNation) — Border Patrol agents began operating in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday, marking the state’s second city now under stepped-up federal immigration action.
The duration of the Raleigh operation is unknown, but the first day of action saw hundreds of demonstrators protesting downtown.
Federal agents were also operating in nearby Charlotte, where the Department of Homeland Security said more than 250 people have been arrested since Saturday. Yet, the presence of federal agents around North Carolina continues to draw mixed reactions as anti-ICE protesters have gathered in both Charlotte and Raleigh, opposing the ongoing federal immigration enforcement effort.
Federal officials said the crackdowns are needed to target criminals, but local leaders in both cities have argued crime is down and the aggressive enforcement has sparked only protests, fear and anger.
Witnesses said U.S. Border Patrol agents aimed guns at and arrested an American citizen in a Charlotte parking lot Monday. The citizen had reportedly volunteered to alert people in the area when agents were nearby.
“I don’t know how people go to sleep at night right now, knowing that the people that live next to them and the people in their neighborhoods, are scared for their lives, scared for their children, scared for their parents, scared for their siblings,” Charlotte resident Miriam Guzzardi told NewsNation.
“What I feel is outraged,” Guzzardi added.
Other residents say they feel heartbroken to watch immigration enforcement, which led to nearly 30,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg school-aged students to stay home from school on Monday, according to district officials.
“(Immigrants) are part of my community and my children play with them,” Charlotte resident Kay Glaze told NewsNation. “It hurts my heart because I understand that there are processes for how to deal with deportation, and this isn’t it.
“Hurting people, attacking them. I mean, kids are afraid to go to school, families are afraid to go to work. You’re not only creating fear among the immigrant community, but you’re creating fear among our communities, period, all the way across the city.”
In response to the criticism, DHS and agents on the ground have said they’re focused on pulling criminals off the streets and that operations will continue nationwide.
“Wherever we go, rest assured beyond a shadow of doubt, as sure as the sun rises, we’re going to take as many bad people and bad things off the street as we can,” Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino told NewsNation earlier this week.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also warned U.S. residents who are being detained by federal agents. She told NewsNation on Tuesday that residents and immigrants who do not comply with federal law enforcement and give agents reasonable suspicion could be arrested.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, has continued to criticize the ongoing operation, which has yielded 251 arrests as of Wednesday. But Stein, along with other Democrats, has said that Border Patrol agents are going well beyond the “worst of the worst” that the Trump administration says is the main mission of the Charlotte immigration enforcement efforts.
Earlier this week, Stein accused agents of “operating in the shadows” and of stopping people on the street based on the color of their skin.
But Republican lawmakers disagree.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards told NewsNation on Wednesday that he understands federal agents are working off a “very targeted list”.
“I think the thing we need to recognize out of this is that there are consequences for open-border policies,” Edwards said. “Now, we’re dealing with a criminal element that must be removed from the United States.”
He added, “Now, we are faced with the element that has been allowed into this country over the last four years. We should learn a lesson from this. The open-door policies create a much more of a dangerous atmosphere for our citizens and families deserve to be able to go outside or get on a subway or a bus and fear for their lives.”
New York and Louisiana are reportedly next in line for enforcement.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told Fox News the Big Apple will soon see an increase in immigration enforcement, and sources told the Associated Press that, by early next month, teams are expected to deploy to New Orleans for an operation targeting around 5,000 people across southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi.
NewsNation’s Mills Hayes and Jeff Arnold contributed to this report.