Cleanup for the NBA all-star game.
Via WBTV:
Comunidad Colectiva, a grassroots community organization focused on advocating for and protecting the human rights of immigrants in Charlotte, released a statement this morning claiming at least a dozen people have been arrested as a part of targeted raids by I.C.E.
“This morning more than a dozen immigrant neighbors were arrested in the streets of Charlotte by I.C.E.,” claims the statement from the organization. “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.”
Stefania Arteaga, a spokesperson for Comunidad Colectiva, said they believe the amount of people arrested is actually around 20-30 people but they are staying conservative with numbers because community members are still “trying to reach their loved ones.”
Arteaga told WBTV they have recieved eyewitness accounts of ICE agents arresting or detaining people in North, Northwest and East Charlotte.
Live video recorded on their Facebook page shows people being detained on Central Avenue and Eastway Drive.
Arteaga calls the sweep a “wide operation” by I.C.E. across North Carolina. She said immigrant neighbors in Charlotte are in a “state of chaos.”[…]
Bryan D. Cox, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, replied to a request for information on the arrests in Charlotte this morning by stating, “ICE conducts targeted immigration arrests everyday as part of its ongoing mission to enforce federal immigration law. ICE has multiple offices in North Carolina, to include Charlotte, and the presence of ICE officers locally is not new.”
Cox told WBTV that ICE does not conduct any type of random or indiscriminate enforcement; “the agency focuses first and foremost on criminal offenders and other public safety threats. The agency’s arrest stats clearly reflect this reality.”