US federal officials arrest over 250 people in Charlotte area amid immigration crackdown News
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US federal officials arrest over 250 people in Charlotte area amid immigration crackdown

More than 250 people from Charlotte, North Carolina, and the surrounding area have been arrested during an immigration crackdown, the US Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin lauded “Operation Charlotte’s Web” as a major win, stating:

While the media and sanctuary politicians try and spread falsehoods and demean DHS law enforcement, the men and woman [sic] of DHS are risking their lives and safety to arrest illegal criminal aliens that are victimizing Americans. We are going to continue to do our job and stand up for North Carolinians who live in fear because of violent criminal illegal aliens.

Operation Charlotte’s Web was announced this past week, emphasizing that sanctuary policies in North Carolina have led to the release of hundreds of “criminal illegal aliens” into the state. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been conducting large-scale immigration controls in the city, targeting everyday locations such as churches, worksites, and residential neighborhoods.

President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts are surging across the country, including in Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell said recently that she wasn’t sure how long federal agents would be present in the city or how broad the operation would be.

The arrests in Charlotte have occurred amid greater legal challenges relating to immigration raids and facilities, and sanctuary policies. A panel of judges on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Wednesday paused a lower court order that limited the use of force at immigration protests in the Chicago area, finding the decision “overbroad” and impractical. A group of journalists and individual protestors had alleged that federal agents’ tactics violated multiple federal laws, including the First and Fourth amendments and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

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