Immigration arrests in Charlotte have sparked fears, leading businesses to close

After immigration officials arrested more than 130 people, some churches report being half empty, an after school program canceled activities and one U.S. citizen said he started carrying his passport.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jonathan Ocampo has called this Southern city home for six years, but, after immigration enforcement descended here over the weekend, the American citizen of Colombian descent said he doesn’t leave the house without his U.S. passport.

“I’m carrying it here right now, which is sad,” he told NBC News. Ocampo said he worries that his father, a citizen who has been in the country for 40 years, could be targeted because of being Hispanic-looking and speaking what he described as very broken English.

“It’s just scary,” he said.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 130 people have been arrested since Border Patrol began an immigration enforcement push it calls “Operation Charlotte’s Web” on Saturday, putting many residents and business owners of the state’s largest city on edge.

The city of Raleigh, northeast of Charlotte, was bracing for more arrests on Tuesday after city Mayor Janet Cowell confirmed in a Monday phone call that immigration officers from Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement already were on the ground. She said in the call that they could start activities as soon as Tuesday. Local law enforcement did not plan to assist, she said.