(The Center Square) – Only one week is planned for Charlotte Web, according to published reports citing sources not authorized to comment on the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol potentially coming to North Carolina.
Charlotte, the nation’s 14th largest city and seventh largest of the 16-state South as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, drew national attention in September when video was released of the Aug. 22 death of Iryna Zarutska on a light rail train. Intensity has increased since in a number of ways, from voices in Raleigh and Washington to the municipal elections last week.
Three Republican congressmen have asked first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein to deploy the National Guard. 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.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said this week he was made aware Border Patrol could be in the city as soon as Saturday.
Friday afternoon, Stein said, “Public safety is the top priority for all of us in government – and that means fighting crime, not stoking fear or causing division. We should all focus on arresting violent criminals and drug traffickers. Unfortunately, that’s not always what we have seen with ICE and Border Patrol agents in Chicago and elsewhere around the country. The vast majority of people they have detained have no criminal convictions, and some are American citizens.
“I want to encourage North Carolinians to remember our values. We follow the law. We remain peaceful. We do not allow ourselves to be provoked.”
Third-quarter crime statistics released by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department have mixed results, with decreases in crime overall (8%) and violent offenses (20%); increases in commercial burglaries (4.2%) and larcenies from automobiles (0.2%); and a lawman in the report saying, “We continue to see a troubling pattern: a disproportionate number of violent incidents and property crimes are being committed by individuals with extensive criminal histories – many of whom continue to cycle through the justice system without facing meaningful consequences.”
Concerns in other major American cities where the Trump administration has deployed the National Guard and immigration enforcement criticize deployments in relation to state sovereignty and federal overreach, and escalated tensions when there. Proponents of the deployments say success is in the volume of criminals removed from city streets, restoration of law and order, and safe discovery and return of youth and children caught up in human trafficking.
Social media messaging this week against the federal initiative was released jointly by the group of state Democratic Rep. Jordan Lopez, and state Democratic Sens. Mujtaba Mohammed and Caleb Theodros, all of Mecklenburg County; county Commissioner Susan Rodrguez-McDowell; City Council member Dimple Ajmera; Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board member Liz Monterrey Duvall; and Charlotte City Council member-elect J.D. Mazuera Arias.
State law enacted Oct. 1 requires lawmen to “attempt to determine if” any “prisoner is a legal resident or citizen of the United States by inquiry of the prisoner, or by examination of any relevant documents, or both” if the person is charged with a felony, Class A1 misdemeanor or driving while impaired.
In a statement released by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, it said, “CMPD does not participate in ICE operations, nor are we involved in the planning of these federal activities.”
