(The Center Square) – Eighty-one arrests were made by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents during the first day of immigration enforcement in Charlotte over the weekend, Commander Gregory K. Bovino said of the operation known as Charlotte’s Web.
“Significant criminal and immigration history” was cited for many. People he says are illegally in America, some with multiple deportations only to return, and with charges like aggravated assault, weapons violations and impaired driving are pictured on Bovino’s social media feed.
Second-term Republican President Donald Trump has sent the guard to the cities of Washington, Los Angeles and Memphis, with authorizations for Chicago and Portland blocked by judges.
The total arrests as a comparison of cities is not apples to apples. For example, the White House said 23 arrests were made the first day in the nation’s capital where the objective was crime reduction. In Los Angeles, protests including blocked freeways followed the beginning of enforcement actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; ICE detained 44 the first day, hundreds were charged related to behavior around protests.
And in Memphis, the National Guard, Memphis Police Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol formed the Memphis Safe Task Force. From nine arrests the first day to 93 in the first few days, the volume was spread through the agencies.
Border Patrol began operations Saturday in the Queen City. Bovino, in one social media post among multiple Sunday, pointed out how those being detained are in grocery stores and on the highways despite “arrests for aggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon and DUI. He has also been removed from the U.S. twice, so now that he’s here again, he committed a felony by reentering the U.S.”
Two others were from Mexico, Bovino said. One, he wrote, “gets deported four times, strolls back to Charlotte, then racks up a hit and run and a DWI? It’s time to go back home.” The other wore the hoody of a Fayetteville’s Methodist University, and Bovino said he had three convictions for DWI.
State law requires a mandatory minimum 12-month prison sentence that cannot be suspended for a third DWI conviction within 10 years. It is called habitual impaired driving, comes with a fine up to $10,000 and could result in forfeiture of vehicle.
Bovino’s post did not say if the convictions were within 10 years, or the judicial system waived any element of punishment.
Sunday afternoon, Homeland Security said a lawman was injured by an American citizen it says, “weaponized his vehicle, driving a large van at law enforcement while they were conducting an operation.” It happened near University City, the suburban area near the campus of UNC Charlotte.
Prior to the Border Patrol arriving, a number of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials indicated the enforcement was not welcome. First-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein made a social media post Friday asking for peace and saying public safety is a priority.
U.S. Reps. Rev. Mark Harris, Pat Harrigan and Chuck Edwards on Nov. 5 asked Stein to send the National Guard to the city.
The North Carolina Republican Party released a statement Saturday saying in part, “We’re grateful to see these brave men and women in federal law enforcement following through on President Trump’s promise to remove violent criminal illegals from our country and those stoking fear about these targeted operations must stop at once. We cannot forget the wreckage Joe Biden and Kamala Harris inflicted on our country with their open southern border.”
In a vulgarity-laced statement attributed to Chairwoman Anderson Clayton, the North Carolina Democratic Party said in part, “We cannot allow ourselves to be provoked. Across the country, we’ve seen federal law enforcement resort to aggressive and even illegal tactics. Do not interfere with federal agents, but you have the right to record and document their actions to help your neighbors.”
