The nation’s eyes are on Charlotte, North Carolina, where Border Patrol agents assigned to the border have descended in the latest citywide crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Federal law enforcement agents from the Department of Homeland Security arrived in the southern city over the weekend following a six-week sprint arresting illegal immigrants across Chicago.
Hundreds of Border Patrol agents are assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in enforcing immigration law by deploying to specific cities to make arrests.
Border Patrol agents were seen out in public detaining people within hours of their arrival.
Agents walked into a Super G Mart grocery store in nearby Pineville, N.C., on Saturday and took a Hispanic man into custody. The store manager told a local media outlet on Monday that the employee was in his 20s.
This is disturbing… ICE/Border Patrol are now illegally targeting and arresting CHILDREN in the Charlotte area.
In Pineville, NC, Border Patrol agents stormed a local grocery store and forcibly removed a 15-year-old employee who was just doing his job.
Witnesses and store… pic.twitter.com/rqUcoZdevZ
— Jesus Freakin Congress (@TheJFreakinC) November 17, 2025
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said ICE did not “raid a church,” as has been widely reported on social media and some media outlets.
Members of an east Charlotte church who gathered outside on Saturday to do lawn work were surprised when Border Patrol agents showed up on the scene and took a man into custody.
The church’s pastor, who asked not to be identified in a conversation with the Charlotte Observer, said the agents grabbed a man without asking questions and left everyone else on site.
McLaughlin said what the public does not understand is that Charlotte is a leading center for human trafficking and gang-related crimes.
“This is what the local leadership is leaving out of the equation, is the fact that it is an epcicenter for human trafficking. They’re ranked number nine in the country,” McLaughlin told Fox News America Reports. “They also have a massive gang problem; it’s also become a major hub for gangs, especially MS-13. That’s part of why we’re seeing that human and labor trafficking. They have a very advantageous, I guess I should say, highway system…and other hubs that makes it easier to travel from Florida to New York.”
“IT IS AN EPICENTER FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING” @TriciaOhio on ICE operations in Charlotte. pic.twitter.com/LPfjvdXaCI
— America Reports (@AmericaRpts) November 17, 2025
McLaughlin added on Monday that 1,400 illegal immigrants were arrested locally on criminal charges but were not released to ICE.
Parts of the city, particularly the eastern side of Charlotte, are home to a large Hispanic population, which was quiet on Monday as some businesses closed their doors to keep workers and patrons off the streets.
The owner of Manolo’s Bakery, Manuel “Manolo” Betancur, had previously spoken with the Washington Examiner about the effect of ICE’s crackdown on his business. Over the weekend, he announced that he had decided to temporarily close his doors, marking the first time in 28 years of operation.
“We are gonna come back. Maybe our doors are closed now, but our hearts are open,” Betancur said in a video posted to Instagram.
Onlookers who took video of the incidents have suggested on social media that they appeared to be random and unprovoked.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment on what prompts agents to go after some individuals and not others.
Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) represents downtown Charlotte, the center of Border Patrol’s operation. Adams and another prominent state politician claimed that Border Patrol is unilaterally targeting people in public based on skin color and implored the public to document what they observe.
“Charlotte, our community is under siege,” Adams wrote in a post to X on Monday. “If there are things you see from Border Patrol that should not be, please report those incidents to my office immediately and please be careful. Call my Charlotte office at (704) 344-9950 or my Washington, DC office at (202) 225-1510.”
Charlotte, our community is under siege.
If there are things you see from Border Patrol that should not be, please report those incidents to my office immediately and please be careful.
Call my Charlotte office at (704) 344-9950 or my Washington, DC office at (202) 225-1510. pic.twitter.com/y9H3crhx6T
— Rep. Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (@RepAdams) November 17, 2025
Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) echoed Adams’s message.
FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL HAS ARRESTED 6,200 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOR ICE
“We’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color,” Stein said in a message shared on X Sunday evening.
Border Patrol could remain in Charlotte for weeks, or even up to two months, if it follows the same timeline as in Chicago and Los Angeles.