CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- E-mails may be bouncing to media representatives of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of the government shutdown, but ICE agents seem to still be working.

  • An attorney says ICE made arrests Wednesday in plain clothes at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse
  • Another attorney says this could result in victims and witnesses avoiding the courthouse
  • Media representatives from ICE weren’t available to confirm the arrests due to the government shutdown

Attorney Rex Marvel says he saw two people in plain clothes arrest a man in the hallway at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse Wednesday. He says when he confronted them, they told him they were from ICE.

“The way in which it was done was completely ridiculous and harmful to our community,” says Comunidad Colective organizer Stefania Arteaga.

Arteaga says it was one of as many as five arrests that occurred at the courthouse on that day. Immigration attorney Benjamin Snyder says it’s legal for ICE to arrest people in the courthouse, but that doesn't make it right.

“Whether or not someone engages in criminal conduct is separate from a person's immigration status,” said Snyder who is an attorney at the Charlotte Immigration Law Firm.

He says it could result in victims and witnesses avoiding the courthouse.

“Foreign nationals will be reluctant to participate in our legal system and the only people happy about this are criminals. The people who know if they target an immigrant they're more likely to get away with because that individual might be to scared to testify as an immigrant,” Snyder said.

The decision comes after Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden's decision to pull out of the controversial 287 (g) program. ICE has said because of that decision residents should expect a more visible ICE presence in Charlotte.

“These recent courthouse enforcement actions appear to be in retaliation of that,” Snyder said.

The sherrif’s office says ICE isn’t required to alert them if it’s going to make arrests inside the courthouse.

Media representatives from ICE weren’t available to confirm the arrests because they aren’t working due to the government shutdown.

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