Skin tone no deterrent to Border Patrol racial profiling

ITSKERRIMELINA VIA INSTAGRAM

Ali, pictured with his wife Kerri, was pulled over and interrogated by federal immigration enforcement officials last week as part of Operation Charlotte’s Web, according to a post by Kerri. Both are native-born U.S. citizens.

Skin color won’t shield anyone from Operation Charlotte’s Web.

An Instagram reel posted by itskerrimelina  shared her frustration with the way her biracial husband Ali was approached by Border Patrol agents while working in Charlotte. 

“My husband is a light-skinned Black man,” she said. “Yes, he probably could pass for someone who could be Puerto Rican or Dominican of some sort, but they racially profiled him while he was working. It’s the fact that now he has to watch his back because he could end up getting pulled over by somebody else.” 

Kerri and Ali declined to provide their last names to maintain their privacy.  

Ali called Kerri last week after his interaction with federal agents, who were in Charlotte as part of an area sweep of immigrants in the region. 

“Basically, the phone call was like, ‘Kerri, you wouldn’t believe this,’” she said. 

Ali, who drives a truck for work, was pulled over in the North Tryon area. The agents approached him speaking Spanish. Ali told the agents he doesn’t speak Spanish, and cooperated by handing over his identification.

“Even after he told them he doesn’t speak Spanish, that wasn’t enough for them to be like, ‘oh, OK,’” Kerri said. “They still proceeded to ask him for his ID while he was in a work uniform.” 

After the agents checked Ali’s credentials against the federal database, Kerri told The Post they informed him he “wasn’t in the system.” 

“I don’t know if that was a lie, because they look stupid,” Kerri said, “if that was just something to say to breeze off the inconvenience and the racial profiling.” 

Kerri and Ali are U.S.-born citizens. She posted the Instagram video as a warning to all – not just Spanish speakers or Latinos. 

“He’s like, ‘I’m just working. I’m just trying to do my job,’” Kerri explained. “He was like, ‘I understand that you’re trying to do a so-called job, but the way that they’re going about it doesn’t make any sense. They’re just randomly pulling people over.’” 

Kerri criticized poor coordination between agents during their Charlotte operations. 

“They’re just going up to random people because they think you look a certain way,” she said. “There’s no actual system of organization,” referencing numerous videos posted to social media of agents chasing people or pulling up in vans and snatching them off the streets. 

“You just don’t know what type of ICE agent you’re gonna have. Maybe one day you have an ICE agent that isn’t aggressive, then you get some that are really aggressive.” 

Kerri didn’t expect her Instagram post, which surpassed 78,000 views as of Nov. 24, would get so much traction. Some viewers commented in panic, stating that they are light-skinned or have biracial children who may be targeted. Others have been negative, like one commenter who wrote Ali “should get deported.” 

“You might not even be Hispanic, but if you can pass or are light-skinned, they might just question you anyway,” Kerri said in the reel. Kerri said she believes Ali didn’t think he’d be bothered by agents because he isn’t Latino or undocumented. 

Since then, U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, whose congressional district includes Charlotte, posted a bulletin to Instagram reels urging those who have faced similar racial profiling to contact her local office at (704) 344-9950 or her Washington, D.C., office (202) 225-1510. 

“Our community is under siege,” Adams said. “ICE and border patrol are roaming this community profiling people, picking people up, it does not matter who you are.” 
Since last week, state and federal officials have released conflicting statements regarding whether Border Patrol agents are leaving the Charlotte area.  

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