US Border Patrol arrests 81 on first day of Charlotte immigration crackdown

Federal agents have arrested at least 81 people in Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend, a senior commander said on Sunday, marking a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

Gregory Bovino, the US Border Patrol official who led immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago before he arrived in Charlotte this week, said on social media early Sunday that agents made the North Carolina arrests within a roughly five-hour span on Saturday, their first day of operating in Charlotte. Many of those arrested had "significant criminal and immigration history," Bovino wrote.

Neither the Border Patrol nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately responded to requests for comment on Sunday. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees those agencies, did not respond to a request for comment.

Mass deportation and strict enforcement of immigration laws have been a key part of US President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda. 

Since Trump, a Republican, took office in January, federal immigration agents have carried out raids in largely Democratic-run cities, along with more conservative rural areas.

The efforts have led to large protests in the impacted cities, with citizens often confronting immigration agents as they attempt to detain those suspected of being in the United States illegally. Immigration rights groups and others have accused the administration of illegally detaining scores of law-abiding citizens caught up in the raids.

DHS officials on Saturday said that the raids in Charlotte were a response to the refusal of local officials to comply with almost 1,400 "detainer" requests by immigration officials to hold suspects for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily be released.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, and city commissioners have urged people to seek help, including from the Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Police Department, which is not participating in the federal raids.