Officials from ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Homeland Security are being deployed as part of President Trump’s latest anti-immigrant operation.
Published November 15, 2025
US federal authorities have confirmed that President Donald Trump’s administration’s latest immigration crackdown is underway in Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, with officers seen being arrested in multiple locations.
“Americans should be able to live without fear that violent criminal illegal aliens will harm them, their families, and their neighbors,” Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Saturday, according to the Associated Press. “We are surging DHS [Department of Homeland Security] Send law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure the safety of Americans and the elimination of public safety threats. ”
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Local officials, including Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, criticized the actions in a statement, saying they are “causing unnecessary fear and anxiety.”
“We want the people of Charlotte and Mecklenburg counties to know that we support all residents who just want to live their lives,” said the statement, which was also signed by County Commissioner Mark Jerrell and Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board President Stephanie Sneed.
Charlotte is an ethnically diverse city of more than 900,000 residents, more than 150,000 of whom are foreign-born, according to local officials.
The federal government had not previously announced this push. But Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said earlier this week that two federal agents told him customs agents would soon arrive.
Paola Garcia, a spokeswoman for Camino, a bilingual nonprofit for families in Charlotte, said she and her colleagues have seen an increase in the number of people being taken by Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents since Friday.
“Basically, what we’re seeing is a lot of people are getting pulled over,” Garcia said. “Yesterday, we saw several people getting pulled over on their way to work. Since then, local residents have seen an increase in ICE and Border Patrol agents in the city of Charlotte.”
Local organizations responded by holding trainings, attempting to inform migrants of their rights, and considering peaceful protests.
The Trump administration has defended federal enforcement in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago as necessary to fight crime and enforce immigration laws.
President Trump’s move to deport millions of immigrants has sparked rights violation claims and countless lawsuits.
But Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat with a Republican-controlled Legislature, said Friday that the majority of those detained in these operations have not been convicted of a crime and some are American citizens.
He urged people to record any “inappropriate behavior” they see and report it to local law enforcement.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has previously stressed that it is not involved in federal immigration enforcement.
