Photo: Alamy
A senior Border Patrol commander on Sunday noted dozens of arrests in Charlotte as residents across North Carolina’s largest city reported encounters with federal immigration agents in the area.
The Trump administration has made the Democratic-led city its newest focus in a nationwide immigration enforcement surge that officials say is intended to reduce crime.
Gregory Bovino, who previously led hundreds of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in similar efforts in Chicago, posted images on social media documenting a small portion of what he said were more than 80 arrests.
Sharing a photo of one man on X, Bovino wrote, “We arrested him, taking him off the streets of Charlotte so he can’t continue to ignore our laws and drive intoxicated on the same roads you and your loved ones are on.”
Federal officials have named the effort Operation Charlotte’s Web.
Bovino, who heads the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector in California, and other Trump administration officials have defended their tactics as necessary to confront what they describe as growing threats to law enforcement.
DHS officials have said North Carolina is a focal point because of local sanctuary policies that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and immigration authorities.
“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed. There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.”
The statement from the DHS revealed a list of some of the suspects arrested in Charlotte. They included Jordan Renato Castillo Chavez, an unlawful immigrant from Costa Rica, who was charged with indecent liberties with a child, first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted statutory sexual offense involving a child under 15 and soliciting a child online. Local authorities released him after declining an ICE detainer.
A second suspect listed was Jose Ulloa Martinez, an unlawful immigrant from Honduras, who had been charged with murder. He was released after local authorities declined to honor the ICE detainer.