What are Trump’s ‘Charlotte’s Web’ ICE raids in North Carolina?

President Donald Trump is expanding his administration’s immigration raids to more cities – and now, he’s set his sights on Charlotte, North Carolina.

This weekend alone, more than 130 people in the southern city were detained on suspicion of being in the United States illegally.

Federal agents first entered Charlotte this weekend, targeting churches, apartments and other areas.

The Department of Homeland Security have nicknamed the raids ‘Operation Charlotte’s Web’, after the beloved children’s book by E.B. White.

The author’s granddaughter, Martha, slammed the name, writing: ‘He certainly didn’t believe in masked men, in unmarked cars, raiding people’s homes and workplaces without IDs or summons.

‘He didn’t condone fearmongering.’

What is happening in North Carolina?

Protests in the capital city, Raleigh, on the weekend saw hundreds take to the streets to protest against what many have dubbed inhumane raids.

The DHS said this operation in North Carolina is to ‘target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to the Tar Heel State because they knew sanctuary politicians would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets’.

North Carolina is a swing state, meaning the divide between Democrats and Republicans is quite even, but larger cities, such as Charlotte and Raleigh, normally vote for more liberal parties. This has placed the cities in Trump’s sights for immigration raids.

Governor Josh Stein said in a statement: ‘In Charlotte, we’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars targeting American citizens based on their skin colour, racially profiling and picking up random people in parking lots, and off of our sidewalks.’

In a widely circulated video, ICE agents were seen shattering the window of a man from Honduras, who was later proven to be a legal US citizen.

North Carolinians have been documenting interactions between ICE agents and suspected ‘illegal immigrants’ after authorities urged citizens to film anything alarming and report it to the police.

ICE is expected to move through Raleigh beginning today, Mayor Janet Cowell told The News & Observer.

The mayor of nearby city Durham, Leo Williams, said in a statement: ‘We’re deeply troubled by recent news accounts of increased presence of immigration officers in and around North Carolina.

‘We want to assert a courageous stance on behalf of our immigrant communities that are essential to the fabric of our state and city. We denounce any effort that promotes exclusion, incites fear, undermines human rights and compromises safety.’

Footage of ICE arrests has angered locals – but some have also seemingly applauded them.

‘Get em’, boys,’ one user wrote on Instagram.

Others were outraged: ‘Innocent men, women and CHILDREN are being snatched from the street, their jobs, school. There is absolutely NO due process. To condone this, in any way, speaks volumes of one’s character.’

Where else are ICE raids happening in the US?

Many North Carolinians are fearful that encounters with ICE will escalate like they did in Chicago, where agents used ‘chemical weapons’ in residential streets, prompting chaos.

ICE units have been in the city for well over a month, and it is claimed that some officers have been deploying tear gas against what they call ‘rioters and terrorists’.

There are also allegations that ICE has been throwing canisters of the gas into crowds ‘unannounced’, without their body cameras on.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said: ‘Rioters and terrorists have opened fire on officers, thrown rocks, bottles, and fireworks at them. ICE officers are facing a nearly 1000% increase in assaults against them… as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, and gang members.’

One concerned citizen was the husband of a pregnant woman who was exposed to tear gas when it made its way into their home.

During one ICE arrest, a local Halloween parade for children was interrupted when agents unleashed tear gas.

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