(NewsNation) — Two hundred migrants have been arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol since the start of “Operation Charlotte’s Web” in North Carolina this weekend, sources confirmed to NewsNation.
The Department of Homeland Security says among those taken into custody are 44 migrants whose criminal records include aggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer, battery, driving under the influence and hit-and-run.
Arrests also included two known gang members, DHS added.
“There is absolutely no excuse to continue allowing criminal illegal aliens to terrorize our American communities,” said a DHS spokesperson.
“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, should never have been here in the first place.”
Sources said they’re still counting the migrants and that the number could increase.
Border Patrol agents have continued to ramp up efforts in Charlotte as 161,000 migrants who have previously been ordered to leave the United States are living in and around the city.
The DHS blamed the move on state officials, saying migrants in the U.S. illegally fled to the Democratic-led city because of so-called “sanctuary” policies they believed would protect them. The agency sent out a release that included a list of migrants they called “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” who they say were released onto North Carolina streets because of those policies.
The department did not link the operation to any single event.
Party leaders from the state have expressed differing opinions on the operation, including 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.
“This is not making us safer,” Stein said in a video posted on social media. “It’s stoking fear and dividing our communities.”