Over 130 people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally have been detained in Charlotte, North Carolina, authorities said on Monday, as President Donald Trump’s nationwide mass deportation campaign ramped up in the South.
Rob Brisley, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that Border Patrol agents had arrested over 130 people on Saturday and Sunday in Charlotte during the first two days of the federal operation targeting undocumented migrants.
“We will not stop enforcing the laws of our nation until every criminal illegal alien is arrested and removed from our country,” Brisley said.
He did not give details on ongoing operations Monday. It was not clear when the operation in the southern city would end.
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell, a Democrat, said the North Carolina operation would expand to her city, the second largest in the state after Charlotte, and that Raleigh police have not participated in any planning.
“I ask Raleigh to remember our values and maintain peace and respect through any upcoming challenges,” Cowell said in a statement.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, said that the constitutional rights and protections of every person in Charlotte, regardless of their immigration status, must be upheld, and said that city officials were working to support the impacted people and communities “while working within complicated legal boundaries.”
“To everyone in Charlotte who is feeling anxious or fearful: you are not alone,” Lyles wrote on social media. “Your city stands with you.”
Charlotte has seen peaceful protests in response to the crackdown, including a walkout on Monday by the students of East Mecklenburg High School, and videos of arrests have been posted across social media, including one showing masked agents smashing a pickup window and dragging a man out.
Some Latino-run businesses closed over the weekend and remained shuttered Monday in Charlotte, a city of 943,000 people and one of the fastest growing areas in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. Many people are drawn by higher-paying jobs in the growing finance, tech and logistics sectors.
Mass deportation and strict enforcement of immigration laws have been a key part of Trump’s domestic policy agenda. Since Trump, a Republican, took office in January, federal immigration agents have carried out raids in largely Democratic-run cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, and in more conservative rural areas.
The aggressive immigration enforcement by federal agents has led to some large protests across the country, and confrontations between federal agents and ordinary citizens, many of whom take video of the operations as they play out in their neighborhoods.
