LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The sheriff in Charlotte, North Carolina, says the Trump administration has selected that city for its next immigration crackdown.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Now, Charlotte is in Mecklenburg County, and the county sheriff there says federal officials have told him that agents could arrive as soon as tomorrow, and that's all he knows. This is happening as some Border Patrol agents are leaving Chicago after weeks of aggressive raids.
FADEL: Nick de la Canal with member station WFAE in Charlotte has been following developments and joins us now. Nick, what do we know so far about agents coming to Charlotte?
NICK DE LA CANAL, BYLINE: Well, we first started hearing reports a few days ago that this could be happening, but city officials said they were completely in the dark. And then yesterday, the Mecklenburg County sheriff, Garry McFadden, said he was contacted by two federal officials who told him Border Patrol agents will be arriving possibly Saturday or early next week. Now, there's still a lot that we don't know, like how many agents are coming, how long they plan to stay, what their assignment is. Although, perhaps we could look to Chicago as a precedent. The sheriff, who is a Democrat, said he's not getting involved in any possible operation, and Charlotte police put out a statement saying they don't participate with federal immigration enforcement. We did reach out to the Department of Homeland Security, and they told us they don't comment on potential operations.
FADEL: OK, so very little detail. How is the community reacting?
DE LA CANAL: Well, there's definitely fear, even though advocacy groups have been urging calm. I spoke with Daniela Andrade with the Carolina Migrant Network, and she says that their ICE hotline has been ringing off the hook over the last few days, mostly with false reports.
DANIELA ANDRADE: People have been calling, reporting anything they see on the street, which sometimes might be just CMPD or something completely different. Most of these cases right now are not ICE, but it's just that fear in general that's already in our community.
DE LA CANAL: And CMPD is the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, by the way. Also, some Latino businesses shared photos on social media yesterday of empty parking lots in what are normally bustling immigrant shopping centers.
FADEL: And what are local officials telling people?
DE LA CANAL: Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles has released a statement saying that the city is committed to following the law while protecting civil rights. Some city council members are also speaking up, including a councilman-elect, JD Mazuera Arias, who himself is an immigrant. He told his community to take a deep breath, not to keep kids home from school or skip work out of fear. And he says Customs and Border Protection need to be transparent with residents and law enforcement.
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JD MAZUERA ARIAS: Our community deserves clarity. The sheriff's department deserves clarity. If there is an operation or presence in Charlotte, the public has the right to know what's happening and why it's happening.
FADEL: So that question of why - do you have any idea why Border Patrol agents are heading to Charlotte or appear to be heading there?
DE LA CANAL: Yeah. We really don't have any idea. We have seen ICE arrests in Charlotte, like in other cities. There was a workplace raid this summer and some isolated arrests but never Border Patrol agents, as far as we know. Now, the city did draw national attention earlier this fall following the fatal stabbing of the Ukrainian woman on the light rail. The suspect was not an immigrant, however. Republicans and the White House directed a lot of criticism at the city's Democratic mayor for that, and there have been calls for the National Guard, even though violent crime is down 20% over last year.
FADEL: Nick de la Canal with member station WFAE. Thank you, Nick.
DE LA CANAL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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