Social media posts suggest there's been an uptick in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement traffic stops over the past few weeks in the Charlotte region.
Videos circulating online show cars with tinted windows and work vans pulled over in areas of east Charlotte and south Charlotte, with people inside taken into custody.
In one case, a 26-year-old man identified as Oscar was detained by ICE after a traffic stop in east Charlotte three weeks ago. He has remained in ICE custody since, despite having lived in the United States since he was two years old.
Carolina Migrant Network operates a hotline where people can report detentions and ICE activity in the Charlotte area. The group says calls to that tipline have roughly doubled over the past three weeks.
Mary Jose Espinosa of Carolina Migrant Network says ICE enforcement is ongoing, even after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents left Charlotte in November.
“Since Charlotte’s Web, CBP is supposed to have left, but we are still continuing to see enforcement by ICE agents,” Espinosa said. “ICE is always here, has always been here.”
ICE did not respond to WFAE’s request for comment.
