Federal immigration authorities carried out a series of enforcement actions in Charlotte, North Carolina, beginning last weekend, with agents arresting hundreds of people.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has dubbed the effort “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” a targeted operation led by U.S. Border Patrol and supported by other DHS components, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). DHS told Newsweek on November 19 that as of Tuesday evening, Border Patrol had arrested more than 250 individuals over the first three days of the operation.
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and federal agencies continue to target some of the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens as Operation Charlotte’s Web progresses,” a DHS spokesperson told Newsweek.
Among those taken into custody were 44 individuals with charges that include aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a police officer, battery, DUI, and hit-and-run, DHS said. In one news release published on November 17, the department identified 11 of the roughly 200 individuals it arrested, with most detainees yet to be detailed in official news releases.
Several agencies, including ICE and Customs and Border Protection, have carried out similar large-scale operations in other Democratic-leaning cities, such as Los Angeles and Chicago. These efforts are part of plans under the Trump administration aimed at increasing arrests and deportations nationwide. Immigration agents remain under heavy scrutiny as officers have been accused by critics of deploying aggressive tactics and racial profiling.
Local elected officials and community leaders voiced concerns about the operation’s effects on residents.
“The vast majority of people they have detained have no criminal convictions, and some are American citizens,” North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Democratic Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the raids were producing fear and uncertainty in immigrant communities.
“The rights and constitutional protections of every person in Charlotte—regardless of immigration status—must be upheld,” Lyles said in a statement.
Eyewitness accounts and video circulated online show federal agents in tactical gear detaining people at locations across the city, including storefronts and public spaces. In one incident, members of a church congregation in east Charlotte said masked agents entered a yard where congregants were working and detained a man, according to The Charlotte Observer.
Viral footage shows at least one encounter in which agents smashed a vehicle window while detaining a man identified as Willy Aceituno, a Honduran-born U.S. citizen.
The case has raised questions about whether agents correctly established identity and authority before using force after the man was stopped twice in one day.
Meanwhile, federal agents detained Joshua Long, a U.S. citizen, on Tuesday at the Eastway Crossing Shopping Center after he recorded their activity, his attorney told Newsweek. He was released from an FBI office about six hours later, the attorney said. DHS told Newsweek that Long was arrested “for vehicular assault against a federal agent.”
“Yesterday, around noon, a group of masked, armed, and militarized federal agents violently arrested Mr. Long. Mr. Long was lawfully documenting immigration enforcement activity in Charlotte, North Carolina,” attorney Xavier T. De Janon told Newsweek. “Nationwide, there are verified reports of CBP and ICE agents engaging in violence, aggression, and illegal conduct, so volunteers across the city are monitoring these individuals.”
He continued: “Mr. Long was disappeared for hours, handcuffed in a room at an FBI field office. He was denied access to his attorney and family. No information would be provided about him. After approximately six hours, he was suddenly released with a citation, accusing him of a ‘Simple Assault on a Federal Officer.’ Mr. Long maintains his innocence.”
The raids are also affecting the city’s school system as students at East Mecklenburg High School walked out Monday morning to protest the ongoing Border Patrol operations in Charlotte. City officials told Newsweek that 21,000 students also missed class on Monday, citing concerns over the presence of federal agents.
“DHS does NOT conduct enforcement operations at schools. CBP is not going to schools to arrest children—we are protecting children. Criminals are no longer be able to hide in America’s schools to avoid arrest,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“There’s no rational answer on why Border Patrol is in Charlotte,” Amanda Thompson, the president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, told Newsweek.
Overall crime in Charlotte fell by 8 percent from the previous year, including a 20 percent drop in violent crimes, according to data the city released in October.
Bakery owner Manolo Betancur, who has temporarily closed his shop for the first time in its 28-year history, told Newsweek, “The situation is worse than it was in Trump’s first term.”
He continued: “As an American citizen, I carry my passport, and I don’t feel safe. Because of my skin color and accent, they’ll throw me to the ground in a heartbeat. I saw how they do it here in Charlotte. So imagine what can await anyone else—a person with a student visa, or a resident, or worse, someone in the immigration process.”
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