Diverse Strategies of Contention: How Community Organization Members Respond to Federal Immigration Enforcement In Charlotte, NC

When federal immigration enforcement dramatically increased in Charlotte, North Carolina, during an event known as “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” the city experienced significant political mobilization organized by a diverse range of community organizations. This study examines what motivates people to protest and how those motivations relate to how they understand and spatially represent their communities. Previous research suggests that people may be motivated to protest when they perceive themselves as threatened by an issue. My findings support and expand on this research by identifying six themes that characterized why people chose to protest immigration enforcement, three of which relate to perceptions of risk to themselves or people within their network. My findings demonstrate that mobilization for immigrant justice is not limited to people directly affected by immigration enforcement. People may also be motivated to mobilize due to their religious identity or due to general disdain for government interference. These findings highlight how social movements can bring together people with different backgrounds under a common cause. This research was funded by the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the Office for Undergraduate Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.