U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has scheduled daily charter flights between Charlotte (CLT) and Jacksonville (JAX), in addition to deploying at least fifty agents to the Raleigh area starting December 1, as part of an operation that will last for a month.
The information was shared by the organization Siembra NC through its Facebook page. The announcement comes after recent Border Patrol operations in the Triangle area and in Charlotte, which resulted in at least 370 arrests.
According to Siembra NC, on Thursday, November 20, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Destin Hall, told the News & Observer: “ICE and CBP have a difficult job… we are just asking them to come back.” The organization noted that, until that moment, “few people imagined he was referring to such a close and extensive deployment, especially just days before an important family holiday.”
They also stated: “We know this is not about safety issues, because not a single person we know feels safer after last week’s CBP operation.” They added that it is most likely that Hall is encouraging a ramp-up of CBP operations in North Carolina to score “culture war” points with MAGA Republicans.
No further details are known at this time about ICE’s operation. Its exact location and objective remain unclear, while arrests continue to occur throughout the state. ICE has maintained offices in Charlotte and in Cary for several years. This week, community organizations identified at least eight arrests in Charlotte and surrounding areas.
Siembra NC also warned about ICE’s operations in Charlotte: “This is how ICE has been carrying out arrests every day this year: mostly before 10 a.m., apparently looking for ‘cars that might have immigrant workers.’ How do you recognize them? Their faces are often, though not always, covered; they wear green or black vests over civilian clothing and use private vehicles.”According to Siembra NC, Border Patrol’s operation in North Carolina brought construction to a halt, yet House Speaker Destin Hall still praised CBP to score culture-war points. North Carolina can’t be a top state for business while masked federal agents show up on job sites and his development donors know it. Make your voice heard by utilizing Siembra NC’s toolkit here, and join the call on Wednesday, December 3 at 7 PM to discuss how we can win the state we all deserve.
