A news station in Charlotte, NC, reported "extraordinarily long lines" at the city’s Homeland Security Office as migrants desperately tried to have their cases heard before Donald Trump takes office on Monday.
Trump has vowed to begin deporting undocumented migrants immediately, claiming at one campaign rally, "On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.”
The Washington Post reported Thursday that while ICE "has long prioritized immigrants with criminal records, there are other subgroups that could be at a higher risk of deportation. They include millions of newcomers who arrived during the record border influx under President Joe Biden, as well as those who have exhausted their legal appeals but haven’t left the United States."
Reporter Joe Bruno with WSOC-TV posted a photo of the long lines to social media, writing, "Chaos in southwest Charlotte as hundreds of people try to get into the ICE office to have their cases heard ahead of President Donald Trump taking office on Monday. Some people have been sleeping in the parking lot trying to get a walk-in appointment."
Video on the news station's website showed people covering up with blankets as they waited in the 22-degree weather.
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"A few of the people we spoke with said they’ve tried for the past few days to get in to have their hearings and were turned away," said reporter Eli Brand. "One man told Channel 9 this is his third try since his original hearing date of Jan. 9. He got to the building at 3 a.m. Thursday to make sure he was near the front of the line. Even then, he was behind a few dozen people."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told WSOC in a statement, "they believe there’s a longer backlog after office closures for the holidays and the National Day of Mourning for the death of former President Jimmy Carter. They also said they’ve seen multiple people from other states showing up to try and get hearings."
Brand spoke to one man who said, “It says on my paperwork, if they tell me to surrender for removal, I have to surrender. There would be no one standing and fighting for my case saying, ‘no he was here!’ There’s no one here who can vouch for me other than these people standing in line.”