Over 250 arrested in North Carolina as immigration crackdown widens

Federal agents have now arrested more than 250 people during a North Carolina immigration crackdown centred around Charlotte, the state's largest city, the US Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

The operation that began over the weekend is the latest phase of Republican President Donald Trump's aggressive mass deportation efforts that have sent the military and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Immigration officials have blanketed the country since January, pushing detention counts to all-time highs above 60,000. Big cities and small towns across the country are targeted daily amid higher-profile pushes in places such as Portland, Oregon, where more than 560 immigration arrests were made in October. Smaller bursts of enforcement have popped up elsewhere.

The push to carry out arrests in North Carolina expanded to areas around the state capital of Raleigh on Tuesday, spreading fear in at least one immigrant-heavy suburb.

Late Wednesday, Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell said via the social platform X that border patrol enforcement appears to have been suspended in the city. DHS did not announce a change to its presence and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The number of arrests around Charlotte and beyond during what the government has dubbed Operation Charlotte's Web was about double the total announced by DHS officials earlier this week. The department said in a statement that agencies continue to target some of the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens.

Their targets include people living in the US without legal permission and those who allegedly have criminal records.

Federal officials have offered few details about those arrested. They've also remained quiet about the scope of the enforcement operations across North Carolina and where agents will show up next, keeping communities on edge.

The crackdown in Charlotte has been met with pockets of resistance and protests.