ICE Arrests Of At Least 12 In Charlotte Spark Fear, Outrage

CHARLOTTE, NC — One day after dozens were arrested in a raid at a gun manufacturing company in eastern North Carolina, Federal immigration officers arrested at least a dozen immigrants in Charlotte Wednesday morning, according to a local community organization.

The arrests in Charlotte Wednesday morning come one day after ICE officers arrested 27 people in a Feb. 5 raid at the Bear Creek Arsenal manufacturing plant in Sanford, North Carolina, the News & Observer reported.

The federal arrests in Charlotte come in the wake of Mecklenburg County's newly sworn-in sheriff ending the law enforcement agency's long standing voluntary participation of immigration enforcement duties under the 287(g) program.

“This morning more than a dozen immigrant neighbors were arrested in the streets of Charlotte by I.C.E.,” the organization, Comunidad Colectiva, said in a statement Wednesday morning. “These arrests come after a workplace raid in Sanford, N.C. and threats by I.C.E. to target immigrants following the end of the 287g program in several counties, including Mecklenburg.”

The group’s spokesperson Stefania Arteaga told WBTV that immigrant neighborhoods throughout Charlotte are in a “state of chaos.” She said that the organization believes as many as 30 immigrants were arrested, but were being conservative in the estimate because community members were still attempting to connect with their loved ones.

SEE ALSO: Mecklenburg's New Sheriff Ends ICE Enforcement Agreement

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the TV station that the federal agency conducts targeted immigration arrests everyday as part of enforcement of federal immigration law. “ICE has multiple offices in North Carolina, to include Charlotte, and the presence of ICE officers locally is not new,” the spokesperson, Bryan Cox, said.

According to Cox, ICE field agents in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia made 15,189 arrests in fiscal year 2018, and that 62 percent of those arrests were convicted criminals.

“The actions of today do not help keep our city safer & erode the fragile trust between too many groups of citizens and our government,” Charlotte City Council Member Braxton Winston said on social media. “These actions inequitably target people that live in the margins of our communities. This is especially true for black and brown people.”

U.S. Rep. Alma Adams tweeted that her office has been in contact with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “We are seeking answers and will keep the community updated,” she said.

WATCH: ICE apprehends a man in north Charlotte:

Sheriff McFadden notified ICE in early December — one day after taking office — that the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office would no longer allow the federal agency to operate inside the county jail, upending an agreement that had previously been in place for 12 years.

"Today I'm ending ICE's 287(g) program in Mecklenburg county and joining the majority of police and sheriff departments around the country who have declined to do ICE's bidding because it erodes trust with our community and ties up critical resources that should be used to ensure public safety," McFadden said in a statement at the time.

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