Photo credit: telegraph herald
Federal officials confirmed on Saturday that a surge of immigration enforcement in immigration enforcement in North Carolina’s largest city has begun, as agents were seen making arrests in multiple locations.
The Associated Press reports the Assistant Homeland Secretary as saying that, “Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbours. We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.”
Local officials, including Mayor Vi Lyles, criticized such actions, saying that they “are causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty.”
“We want people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to know we stand with all residents who simply want to go about their lives”, the statement said. It was also signed by Mecklenburg County Commissioner Mark Jerrell and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Stephnie Sneed.
Crime is down in the city this year through August, compared with the same months in 2024. Homicides, rapes, robberies and motor vehicle thefts fell by more than 20%, according to AH Datalytics.
However, President Donald Trump’s administration has seized upon the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light-rail train to argue that Democratic-led cities fail to protect residents. A man with a lengthy criminal record has been charged with the woman’s murder.
Charlotte is a racially diverse city of more than 900,000 residents, including more than 150,000 who are foreign-born, according to local officials.
