CHARLOTTE — Four people are in ICE custody after being arrested at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse on Tuesday.
Those people taken into custody have been identified as Elder Andrade Nascimento, Gerson Molina, Nestor Ponce Rivas, and Alfredo Xocua-Xitlama. Each person was due in court for hearings at the time of the arrests.
Records show Nascimiento was charged with assault on a female and injury to personal property. He is accused of grabbing and squeezing someone’s arm after accusing them of infidelity.
Molina was charged with domestic violence and assault on a female. Molina is accused of beating a teenager with a belt for skipping school, according to an arrest affidavit.
Rivas was charged with DWI, child abuse, and resisting arrest. Court records say he is from El Salvador and was arrested for driving while impaired with two children in the car.
Xocua-Xitlama was charged with DWI. Court records show he is from Mexico.
A review of online court documents shows none of the suspects had active detainers.
The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office told Channel 9 that ICE agents threatened to arrest three attorneys for attempting to interfere with those arrests.
Last year, the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance saying ICE agents can conduct civil immigration enforcement in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe their targeted suspects will be present. The Biden administration, however, previously banned ICE arrests at courthouses.
Since then, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office said that arrests have happened at the courthouse occasionally.
A spokesperson told Channel 9 that ICE agents notify them after they make arrests, and usually everything goes smoothly.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office told Channel 9 that the arrests did have an impact on Tuesday’s scheduled hearings.
The DA’s office told Channel 9 in a statement: “Criminal cases are able to proceed when the accused is present to face the charges against them in open court. If we learn that defendants or necessary witnesses cannot be produced, the State is unable to proceed with prosecution. [Tuesday], multiple police and civilian witnesses were sent home after subjects were apprehended in advance of their scheduled trials. Without more information about the status of the defendants in question, we are unable to speak to our ability to proceed at a later time.”
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