Officials in North Carolina city vow to resist looming federal immigration crackdown

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Officials and community leaders opposing a pending federal immigration crackdown in North Carolina’s largest city characterized it Friday as an invasion and urged Charlotte residents to protest peacefully and record agents' actions from a distance.

“We are living in the strangest of times,” said Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, the granddaughter and wife of immigrants. “A time when a felonious reality TV personality is occupying the White House. Unfortunately we have seen this movie before, and now they want to film an episode of Shock and Awe show here in our city.”

On Thursday, Sheriff Garry McFadden confirmed that federal officials, whom he declined to identify, told him U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents would start an enforcement operation there by Saturday or early next week. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, won't comment on future or potential operations. But the community is preparing for the types of enforcement actions seen in Chicago and other Democratic-led cities.

“We’ve seen what has taken place in other cities across this country when the federal government gets involved,” state Rep. Jordan Lopez said. “We have seen the undisciplined agents pointing weapons at unarmed civilians, the indiscriminate rounding up of civilians who are sleeping in their homes” in Chicago.

"We have seen the worst of law enforcement,” Lopez added.

Local and state officials say they have received no formal notification from President Donald Trump’s administration about a mission to Charlotte. But local organizations are informing immigrants of their rights as well as training volunteers on recognizing federal agents, protesting and safely documenting any attempts to perform a sweep.

Elizabeth Westbay, a Charlotte resident, attended one such training Friday evening that was organized by Indivisible Charlotte and the Carolina Migrant Network. She said the large turnout made her feel hopeful after seeing the toll of federal immigration crackdowns in other places.

“Everything I’ve heard online about what could be coming, and you see everything that’s happening in D.C. and Chicago, and it’s like this creeping dread that it’s coming your way,” Westbay said. “So I felt kind of compelled to come and be prepared.”

Trump has defended sending the National Guard and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and the nation’s capital, saying the unprecedented operations are needed to fight crime and carry out his mass deportation agenda.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat in a state with a Republican-majority legislature, said Friday that the “vast majority” of those detained in these operations have no criminal convictions and some are U.S. citizens.

“If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe long after these federal agents leave,” Stein said.

Charlotte is another Democratic stronghold. A statement of solidarity from several local and state officials estimated that the city is home to more than 150,000 foreign-born people. Its population is about 40% white, 33% Black, 16% Hispanic and 7% Asian.

The Trump administration has used this summer’s fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a light-rail train in Charlotte to argue that Democratic-led cities fail to protect residents from violent crime. A man with a lengthy criminal record has been charged with murder in that case.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has clarified that it doesn't have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws and isn't involved in planning or carrying out such operations.

Council member-elect JD Mazuera Arias, a Colombian who grew up in the U.S. and became a naturalized citizen in 2021, said he knows what it's like to fear a knock at the door and pledged that local resources and tax dollars won't go toward immigration enforcement operations. He said sweeps like those in Chicago have been about “quotas” and “control,” not public safety or rounding up hardened criminals.

“Our Queen City will not become a staging ground for fear,” said the incoming councilman, who ran to represent East Charlotte, an area with a large immigrant population. “We will not confuse cruelty with safety.”

Cameron Pruette, executive director of the city’s Freedom Center for Social Justice, urged people to shop at immigrant-owned businesses and to “peacefully and prayerfully and with moral clarity take action in this moment.”

“This is about the color of someone’s skin, about where they come from and about causing fear and division," he said. "So, I ask everyone: Take action, stand together, and we will get through this.”

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Associated Press writer Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, contributed.