Immigration Agents Expanding to Raleigh11/18 06:07

   

   CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Federal immigration authorities will expand their 
enforcement action in North Carolina to Raleigh as soon as Tuesday, the mayor 
of the state's capital city said, while Customs and Border Protection agents 
continue operating in Charlotte following a weekend that saw arrests of more 
than 130 people in that city.

   Mayor Janet Cowell said Monday that she didn't know how large the operation 
would be or how long agents would be present. Immigration authorities haven't 
spoken about it. The Democrat said in a statement that crime was lower in 
Raleigh this year compared to last and that public safety was a priority for 
her and the city council.

   "I ask Raleigh to remember our values and maintain peace and respect through 
any upcoming challenges," Cowell said in a statement.

   U.S. immigration agents arrested more than 130 people over the weekend in a 
sweep through Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city, a federal official said 
Monday.

   The movements in North Carolina come after the Trump administration launched 
immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago. Both of those are deep blue 
cities in deep blue states run by nationally prominent officials who make no 
secret of their anger at the White House. The political reasoning there seemed 
obvious.

   But why North Carolina and why was Charlotte the first target there?

   Sure the mayor is a Democrat, as is the governor, but neither is known for 
wading into national political battles. In a state where divided government has 
become the norm, Gov. Josh Stein in particular has tried hard to get along with 
the GOP-controlled state legislature. The state's two U.S. senators are both 
Republican and 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 maybe focusing on a place where politics is less outwardly bloody was 
part of the equation.

   The White House "can have enough opposition (to its crackdown), 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 interested in just deporting people. They're interested in the 
show," he said.

   The crackdown

   The Trump administration has made Charlotte, a Democratic city of about 
950,000 people, its latest focus for an immigration enforcement surge it says 
will combat crime -- despite local opposition and declining crime rates. 
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 had arrested "over 130 illegal aliens who have all 
broken" immigration laws. The agency said the records of those arrested 
included gang membership, aggravated assault, shoplifting and other crimes, but 
it did not say how many cases had resulted in convictions, how many people had 
been facing charges or any other details.

   The crackdown set off fierce objections from area leaders.

   "We've seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving 
unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color," Stein 
said in a video statement late Sunday. "This is not making us safer. It's 
stoking fear and dividing our community."

   Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said Monday she was "deeply concerned" about videos 
she's seen of the crackdown but also said she appreciates protesters' 
peacefulness.

   "To everyone in Charlotte who is feeling anxious or fearful: You are not 
alone. Your city stands with you," she said in a statement.

   The debate over crime and immigration

   Charlotte and surrounding Mecklenburg County have both found themselves part 
of America's debates over crime and immigration, two of the most important 
issues to the White House.

   The most prominent was the fatal stabbing this summer of Ukrainian refugee 
Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light-rail train, an attack captured on video. 
While the suspect was from the U.S., the Trump administration repeatedly 
highlighted that he had been arrested previously more than a dozen times.

   Charlotte, which had a Republican mayor as recently as 2009, is now a city 
dominated by Democrats, with a growing population brought by a booming economy. 
The racially diverse city includes more than 150,000 foreign-born residents, 
officials say.

   Lyles easily won a fifth term as mayor earlier this month, defeating her 
Republican rival by 45 percentage points even as GOP critics blasted city and 
state leaders for what they call rising incidents of crime. Following the Nov. 
4 election, Democrats are poised to hold 10 of the other 11 seats on the city 
council.

   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 officials to hold an arrested 
immigrant for a limited time so agents can take custody of them. Nevertheless, 
some common, noncooperation policies have existed in a handful of places, 
including Charlotte, where the police do not help with immigration enforcement.

   In Mecklenburg County, the jail did not honor detainer requests for several 
years, until after state law effectively made it mandatory starting last year.

   DHS said about 1,400 detainers across North Carolina had not been honored 
since October 2020, putting the public at risk.

   For years, Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden pushed back against efforts by 
the Republican-controlled state legislature to force him and a handful of 
sheriffs from other urban counties to accept ICE detainers.

   Republicans ultimately overrode a veto by then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper 
late last year to enact the bill into law.

   While McFadden has said his office is complying with the law's requirement, 
he continued a public feud with ICE leaders in early 2025 that led to a new 
state law toughening those rules. Stein vetoed that measure, but the veto was 
overridden.

   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're stepping in to clean up his mess and restore safety to the city."

   Last month, McFadden said he'd had a productive meeting with an ICE 
representative.

   "I 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 proper coordination by 
notifying our agency ahead of time," McFadden said in a statement.

   But such talk doesn't calm the political waters.

   "Democrats at all levels are choosing to protect criminal illegals over 
North Carolina citizens," state GOP Chairman Jason Simmons said Monday.