(The Center Square) – U.S. Homeland Security got the social media message from U.S. Senate hopeful Roy Cooper on Monday.
Then it introduced him to Jordan Renato Castillo-Chavez, a Costa Rican the state of North Carolina wouldn’t give to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He’s detained now.
His arrest history includes, says Homeland Security, indecent liberties with child, first degree sexual exploitation of a minor, and solicitation of a child by a computer.
Monday was Day 3 of a concentrated effort on immigration law enforcement in Charlotte. Raleigh is next on Tuesday.
U.S. Homeland Security led by Secretary Kristi Noem said Operation Charlotte’s Web netted 130 arrests of people illegally in America over the first two days. Criminal records of 44 of them included aggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer, battery, driving under the influence, and hit-and-run.
Cooper is former two-term governor and four-term state attorney general. The Democrat has a whopping poll lead over Republican Michael Whatley in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in the U.S. Senate, potentially becoming the first from his party to win a seat in the chamber since Kay Hagan’s 2008 win.
In a social media post Monday morning, Cooper wrote, “I’ve prosecuted violent criminals and fought to keep them behind bars, so I know the importance of using federal resources to deport violent criminals and keep our borders strong. But randomly sweeping up people based on what they look like, including American citizens and those with no criminal records, risks leaving violent criminals at large while hurting families and the economy.”
Homeland Security responded to him on social media with Castillo-Chavez. The post read, “Castillo-Chavez is a criminal illegal alien from Costa Rica. His criminal history includes indecent liberties with child, first degree sexual exploitation of a minor, and solicitation of a child by a computer. North Carolina refused to hand him over to ICE.”
In North Carolina, it is illegal for any of the 100 county sheriffs or their deputies to not cooperate with ICE.
While he champions his time as top state prosecutor, as governor Cooper allowed release of 3,500 inmate early to settle litigation with the NAACP. He also vetoed legislation in 2019, 2022 and 2024 that would require local law enforcement to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the latter time made law by the General Assembly’s override.
On his final day in office, Dec. 31, he gave clemency to 15 on death row. Each was required to remain jailed without possibility of parole, helping keep intact an unwritten moratorium on use of state law for executions.
In a release, Homeland Security said in part, “There is absolutely no excuse to continue allowing criminal illegal aliens to terrorize our American communities. 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 and should never have been here in the first place.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our communities once and for all.”
