North Carolina Republican senatorial candidate Michael Whatley said in a Wednesday interview that the reason ICE has to deploy such force in Charlotte and the Triangle is because of his Democratic opponent’s repeated vetoes of bills that would have compelled local cooperation with DHS.

ICE, along with Tarheel State-native Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, captured at least 120 illegal immigrants in Charlotte, with plans to shift to the state capital of Raleigh on Wednesday. Officials in Durham — part of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill “Triangle” region — also reported ICE activity.

Whatley, a Watauga native and former Republican National Committee chairman, blamed Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper for what he called a breakdown in local law enforcement.

“If Roy Cooper had not vetoed legislation that would have forced sheriffs to honor the ICE detainers, then these people would not have been on the street,” Whatley said.

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“It’s unfortunate that the Trump administration has to go into a city like Charlotte and help to clean up the city. It would be great if the state and the local officials were to be as concerned for their citizens as they were for the illegal immigration advocates that they’re pushing.”

Cooper vetoed at least three bills during his eight-year tenure dealing with ICE cooperation that were drafted by the GOP-majority legislature.

In August 2019, Cooper vetoed a bill from current House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Lenoir, that would have required sheriffs to honor ICE detainers and hold suspects until they could be transferred to the feds.

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Cooper reportedly said the bill was trying to use “fear to divide North Carolina.”

Another bill drafted by Hall with state Reps. Carson Smith of Burgaw, Jason Saine of Lincolnton and Keith Kidwell of Washington – dubbed “ICE 2.0” – also died with the veto pen in 2022.

The third time was the charm for the four GOP lawmakers, as the legislature overrode Cooper’s veto of their next attempt in 2024, which also included expansion of private-sector school vouchers.

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Whatley said the result of the vetoes showed that Cooper is “responsible” for many of the illegal immigrant criminals who remained on the streets until ICE swooped in over the weekend.

A Cooper spokesperson told Fox News Digital that sheriffs in Wake, Mecklenburg and Durham counties all opposed Republicans’ legislation – and backed his own move to veto them. Eight other sheriffs backed Cooper’s veto.

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“Roy Cooper is the only candidate who spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and keeping thousands of them behind bars, and numerous North Carolina sheriffs spoke out against this legislation at the time because of a lack of resources; a problem that Washington, D.C. insider and Big Oil lobbyist Michael Whatley has made worse because of his support for cuts to local law enforcement,” the spokesman said.

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The sheriffs had warned in a letter the policies would add “substantial administrative burdens” to jailers and court staff. Elsewhere, Cooper had supported the Lankford-Sinema border bill, which President Donald Trump considered flawed and helped tank in 2024.

Whatley criticized sheriffs in Durham, Wake and Mecklenburg counties for refusing to comply with ICE detainer requests.

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“What we’ve seen are Democrat sheriffs… who have refused to honor the ICE detainers and be able to move these violent criminal illegal aliens out of North Carolina,” he said.

“Thank God President Trump is standing up and defending the citizens of North Carolina by removing these violent criminals from the state.”

He said the highest role of government is protection of the citizenry and that the president has essentially become the proxy in that role for the people of North Carolina.

Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.

A North Carolina father who allegedly called 911 to confess to killing four of his children and hiding their remains in a car trunk at his home near Zebulon also allegedly told investigators he buried a fifth child behind the house, according to a report.

Court records show Wellington Delano Dickens III, 38, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder after law enforcement officials said he admitted to killing his children over several months.

The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office posted on social media that deputies responded to Dickens’ home just after 10 p.m. on Oct. 27 after he told a 911 dispatcher that four of his children were dead and that their bodies were in a car parked inside his garage. 

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Deputies found Dickens at the home along with his 3-year-old son, who was alive and unharmed.

When deputies searched the garage, they discovered what appeared to be human remains inside the trunk of a vehicle. Investigators said the remains had likely been there for some time.

In a 911 call recording obtained by WRAL-TV, a man who identified himself as Wellington Dickens gave the home’s address and allegedly told the dispatcher he had killed his children.

During the call, Dickens reportedly told the dispatcher, “It’s a lot to explain, but in a nutshell, it’s probably my fault. It’s bad. It started out as me over-disciplining – that’s it.”

Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said during a news conference late last month that investigators believe the deaths were spread out over several months, beginning in May and ending in September.

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Bizzell said he didn’t yet know why Dickens killed the children, “but as the sheriff, as a father and as a grandfather, I can stand here and say there’s no reason for a father to murder his children.”

Authorities said Dickens’ wife, Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, died in April 2024 from complications of a miscarriage. Investigators believe the killings occurred between May and September of this year.

Neighbors described the family as reclusive and said the children were homeschooled. Deputies said the home had been visited previously when Stephanie Dickens died, but her death was determined to be from natural causes after she refused medical treatment.

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“The neighbors said they never saw them come outside, and they were homeschooled, so they were just confined to the house,” sheriff’s Capt. Don Pate said.

In court documents obtained by NBC News, Dickens allegedly confessed to burying a fifth child in the woods behind his home. Dickens allegedly told investigators his infant’s health had declined before he wrapped the baby in plastic or paper and buried the child behind the house.

Officials said the death was never reported, and relatives told investigators they hadn’t seen the baby since Dickens moved. The infant’s remains have not been found, according to NBC News.

Fox News Digital is working to obtain the indictment and charging documents.

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“This case has affected every deputy, every investigator and every first responder who went to that house,” Bizzell said. “It’s something you don’t ever forget.”

Details about how the children died have not been released, but officials said the state medical examiner’s office continues to examine the remains to determine their causes of death. Authorities also said the search for the fifth child will resume once weather conditions improve, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A Miami grand jury indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., on charges of allegedly stealing millions of dollars in disaster relief funds to make illegal campaign contributions, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.

According to the indictment, the Florida Democrat allegedly conspired to steal $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds alongside her brother Edwin Cherfilus and numerous co-defendants.

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants routed the funds through multiple accounts to disguise their source and that a significant portion of the misappropriated funds were used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign or for their personal benefit.

The Democrat could face up to 53 years in prison if convicted.

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“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”

Both Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother worked through their family healthcare company on a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021, according to the indictment. The company received an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds in July 2021, prosecutors alleged.

FBI Director Kash Patel immediately posted on X that Cherfilus-McCormick and her family “allegedly stole money from FEMA and then laundered it through friends toward her own personal benefits – including her campaign accounts.”

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The indictment also states that Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc allegedly fixed contributions using straw donors and channeled funds from a FEMA-funded COVID-19 contract to their associates, who used it to make campaign donations.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., shared on X that he will be filing a motion to censure Cherfilus-McCormick and remove her from all committees.

“This is one of the most egregious abuses of public trust I have ever seen,” he asserted.

The Republican Party of Florida, in an X post, immediately called on Cherfilus-McCormick to resign, writing, “This is absolutely disgusting. She must step down NOW!”

Cherfilus-McCormick’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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The Howard University graduate was initially hit by a probe in 2023 by the House Ethics Committee, who investigated allegations of campaign finance violations tied to her 2022 elections.

Cherfilus-McCormi was re-elected to a third term in Congress in 2024. She currently serves on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.