Images of federal agents chasing immigrants have rattled many. Others see evidence of an effective crackdown. It remains to be seen whether the operation might sway voters next year.
Federal agents walked through a park in downtown Charlotte on Thursday. Reactions have varied widely over the Border Patrol operation in North Carolina since agents zeroed in on Charlotte last week and briefly spread out to Raleigh and Durham.
The mayor and sheriff said earlier in the day that the operation appeared to have concluded. But a homeland security spokeswoman said that the effort was “not ending anytime soon.”
Federal officials say they have arrested more than 250 people in Charlotte, shaking a burgeoning city far from any border that has welcomed waves of immigrants for decades.
Protesters in Charlotte over the weekend. The Border Patrol operation has laid bare the tensions that have been simmering for years in the city over immigration and crime.
Agents were active in the Raleigh and Durham areas on Tuesday, though the scope of the immigration crackdown in the state’s Research Triangle region was not immediately clear.
Since Saturday, the Border Patrol had been focusing its efforts in North Carolina on Charlotte, the state’s largest city, which is home to a growing population of immigrants.
Border Patrol agents descended on Charlotte over the weekend, searching for immigrants who are in the country illegally. It remains unclear how long the agents will stay.
The annual Penn Center Heritage Day Parade in South Carolina draws hundreds to celebrate the Gullah Geechee people. But a new route has Black residents feeling as if their legacy is vanishing.
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