By SOPHIA TAREEN, BRIAN WITTE and MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

After a surge in Border Patrol activity in North Carolina’s largest city over the weekend, including dozens of arrests , Gov. Josh Stein said the effort is “stoking fear,” not making Charlotte safer.

The Trump administration has made the Democratic city of about 950,000 people its latest target for an immigration enforcement surge it says will combat crime, despite fierce objections from local leaders and downtrending crime rates . Charlotte residents reported encounters with federal immigration agents near churches, apartment complexes and stores.

“We’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color, racially profiling, an

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