The news of the ousting of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent waves of relief to many across the country, but for many others, the impacts of increased immigration enforcement operations are ongoing and continue to be a source of distress.
Charlotte was the central point for immigration enforcement operations in the Tar Heel State last year with “Operation Charlotte’s Web” – an aggressive crackdown in Charlotte Nov. 15-20. Reportedly arresting as many as 400 individuals, it has raised widespread concerns about racial profiling, due process and community safety. The operation was led by U.S. Border Patrol, whose masked agents arrived in unmarked SUVs carrying rifles.
Federal officials, including the now-fired Noem, said agents made at least 370 arrests within five days, although other sources estimated the number to be over 400. It has been declared one of the largest immigration sweeps in the state’s history.
Throughout the five days, Trump’s border patrol agents brought chaos throughout the Queen City, with residents across Charlotte reporting encounters with federal agents in shopping centers, parking lots, supermarkets, churches and residential areas.
ICE didn’t stop with the end of Operation Charlotte’s Web
As recently reported in Qnotes, a gay couple from Azerbaijan had their lives in Charlotte turned upside down when Department of Homeland Security Assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin declared one of the men an “illegal alien” who repeatedly “missed check-ins.” Although his attorney says that’s not true, the couple decided to return to Azerbaijan.
Incidents with immigration officials, ICE and the LGBTQ+ community have since continued. On a late February morning at around 6:30 a.m., Luis Duque was driving his boyfriend Oscar to work when police lights lit up behind them. Duque pulled over, thinking the lights from the patrol vehicle were Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers. Instead, he and Oscar were surrounded by 10 armed federal agents in masks, asking for identification.
“They stated that they’re looking for somebody, an individual, with the same car description as mine, and that they needed to identify us,” Duque said. The vehicle Duque drives is a 2023 Toyota Camry, and according to an interview he did with The Charlotte Observer, agents never showed paperwork or a warrant to justify the stop. Duque handed the agents his ID, but Oscar – who is in the process of getting his citizenship – didn’t have an ID.
Duque told reporters he had a feeling he knew what would happen once he learned it was ICE and Border Patrol agents making the stop. Nothing prepared him, however, for what would come next. Agents asked Oscar to step out of the car to be detained, and when Duque asked agents if he could step out of the car too so he could say goodbye to Oscar, he was denied and told to stay in the vehicle for the agents’ safety.
In videos Duque took and shared with The Observer, Duque can be heard asking agents if he could get out and say goodbye “just in case” he didn’t get to see Oscar again. When Duque insisted he wanted to get out of the car after agents’ rejection, an agent told him “All right that’s it, man,” before walking away and taking Oscar with them.
“These aren’t criminals that they’re grabbing. Oscar has no criminal record,” Duque said. “It’s about human decency. You wouldn’t want to see your loved one getting taken away.”
From the traffic stop, Oscar was taken to a Department of Homeland Security office located on Tyvola Centre Drive in south Charlotte. During a short phone conversation, he told Duque that officials had presented him with two choices: accept $2,500 to voluntarily return to Mexico or remain at a detention facility in Georgia for three to four months while waiting for a hearing before a judge.
“He really didn’t know what to do and asked me what he should choose,” Duque said. “But I don’t know either. I just don’t know.”
Oscar was then taken to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, which has been continually reported on for its poor conditions including inadequate food for detainees, lack of medical care, safety issues amongst the facilities and more.
When Oscar called Duque again from Georgia on Thursday, he said a court hearing had been set for March 9. Duque advised him not to take the self-deportation option. He also said he had contacted a lawyer to explore the possibility of getting Oscar released from the detention center and returned to Charlotte so he could attend his court proceedings there.
In the same phone call, which lasted barely over a minute according to Duque, Oscar confirmed the conditions of the detention facility were abysmal, at best.
“Those detention centers are horrible,” Duque said. “Jail is a mercy compared to those centers.”
Oscar, who was brought to the United States from Mexico when he was two-years old, has been working with an immigration attorney since 2018 to get his citizenship.
Recently, he finally took major steps forward, filing critical paperwork in his citizenship process. Now, Duque says that progress feels like it’s slipping away. The attorney who had been helping Oscar shows little urgency, Duque said, and won’t speak with him because he isn’t the client.
So Duque has started reaching out to other lawyers — ones he says seem to grasp how urgent the situation is and are willing to help.
In all of this madness, Duque finds himself wishing the agents on that fateful day would’ve let him say goodbye to the person he loves more than anything.
“[I wanted to] at least give him a hug,” Duque said. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”
Duque and Oscar’s reality is one that millions of Americans are currently living in. While the firing of Noem is a step in the right direction, there is still much work to be done to reverse the damage caused by DHS, ICE and the Trump administration.