President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration reached Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday.
Federal officials said agents were making arrests in the city as the effort to protect American citizens from illegal alien crime continues, Newsmax reported Sunday.
In a statement, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors. We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.”
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have dubbed the surge “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” per NBC News.
Per the outlet, DHS “said nearly 1,400 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers across North Carolina ‘have not been honored,’ meaning those individuals were released back ‘on to North Carolina’s streets because of sanctuary policies.’”
Video footage shows U.S. Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino outside a store in Charlotte with other agents as they made an arrest. Several people filming them criticized what they were doing. One person said, “I bet you he was grocery shopping,” to which Bovino replied, “Could be. Criminals grocery shop. They gotta eat, too.”