The Trump administration has expanded its immigration enforcement efforts to Charlotte, North Carolina, with the launch of Operation Charlotte’s Web on Saturday.

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Federal officials said the operation is focused on arresting criminal illegal aliens living in the city.

Charlotte has approximately 900,000 residents, and 150,000 of them are foreign-born, according to CBS News.

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The Department of Homeland Security said state and local officials failed to cooperate with federal requests to detain individuals flagged for immigration violations.

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DHS said that 1,400 detainer requests were not honored, resulting in offenders being released back into the community.

“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.

“We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed. There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.”

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said that more than 80 individuals were arrested on the first day of the operation.

He noted that the majority of those taken into custody had “significant criminal and immigration history.”

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A video posted on social media showed a leftist activist confronting Bovino during one of the arrests carried out over the weekend while federal agents were detaining an alleged illegal alien.

“Are you doing nice things?” the activist asked.

“Absolutely, making the community safer for you,” Bovino responded.

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Bovino also posted several examples of recent arrests in Charlotte on X.

“Let’s paint this picture for you. An illegal alien from Mexico gets deported 4 times, strolls back to Charlotte, then racks up a hit & run AND a DUI/DWI?” he wrote.

“It’s time to go back home.”

In another post, he highlighted a separate arrest.

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“Who’s at the same grocery store as you?” he wrote.

“This illegal alien from Honduras with a criminal history. He has arrests for aggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon & DUI. He has also been removed from the U.S. twice, so now that he’s here AGAIN, he committed a felony by re-entering the U.S.”

Reports circulated Sunday claiming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had shot an individual during the ongoing operations.

McLaughlin addressed the report directly, saying the claims were false.

“This criminal illegal alien from Mexico had a panic attack and was taken to the hospital where he attempted to escape by climbing into the ceiling tiles from the hospital bathroom. He was unsuccessful and was apprehended inside the ceiling by law enforcement,” McLaughlin stated.

“He has a prior arrest for assault.”

Operation Charlotte’s Web marks an escalation of federal enforcement efforts in North Carolina as DHS continues to respond to concerns regarding repeat criminal offenders returning to communities after previous removals.

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