US Border Patrol crackdown in Charlotte results in 81 arrests

Federal agents detained at least 81 people in Charlotte, North Carolina, marking a sharp escalation in the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign. Local authorities and human rights activists claim that law enforcement exceeded their authority.

Reuters reports.

The immigration campaign in the US has intensified

Mass deportations and strict enforcement of immigration laws have become a key element of President Donald Trump's domestic policy. Since taking office in January, federal immigration agents have conducted raids in Democratic-leaning cities and conservative rural areas.

These efforts sparked large-scale protests in cities, where citizens often clashed with immigration agents trying to detain individuals suspected of being in the US illegally. Groups advocating for immigrant rights and other organizations have accused the administration of illegally detaining dozens of law-abiding citizens caught up in the raids.

According to US Border Patrol agent Gregory Bovino, who led operations against illegal immigration in Los Angeles and Chicago, agents made arrests in North Carolina in about five hours on Saturday. Many of those arrested had "significant criminal and immigration histories".

In a video statement published on social media, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said that illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes should be deported. He added that "everyone wants to be safe in their community, but the actions of too many federal agents in Charlotte are having the opposite effect".

"We’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color, racially profiling and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks," Stein said.

On Saturday, Department of Homeland Security representatives stated that the Charlotte raids were in response to the local government's refusal to comply with nearly 1,400 immigration service requests to detain suspects for up to 48 hours after their typical release time.

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