A five-day Border Patrol operation targeting suspected undocumented immigrants in Charlotte, North Carolina, has come to an end, local officials said Thursday, following a wave of federal
sweeps that resulted in hundreds of arrests and ignited protests across the city.
Charlotte is the latest Democratic-led city to face aggressive enforcement actions under President Donald Trump’s ongoing mass deportation initiative. Similar operations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington have drawn criticism from local leaders and residents, who have frequently mobilized to alert communities about immigration agents’ presence.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said federal authorities informed his office that the operation—internally referred to as “Charlotte’s Web”—had concluded. “As a result, there will be no CBP operations today,” McFadden said in a statement. The U.S. Border Patrol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The sheriff stressed that even though the Border Patrol’s deployment had ended, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would continue its routine enforcement in the county. “ICE maintains full authority to detain, apprehend, and take into custody any undocumented immigrant in accordance with federal law,” the statement read.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles also said she was “relieved for our community” after learning the operation appeared to be over, calling the sweep an “intrusion” that had unsettled residents and businesses.
The Department of Homeland Security has said the raids were prompted by local officials’ refusal to honor immigration detainer requests. The agency reported Wednesday that more than 250 people had been arrested in Charlotte and surrounding areas. Border Patrol agents expanded their operations earlier this week to Raleigh, about 130 miles away, where enforcement activity appeared to be continuing.
The crackdown sparked peaceful demonstrations throughout Charlotte, including a student walkout at East Mecklenburg High School. Videos circulating on social media showed several arrest encounters, among them one in which masked agents broke a pickup truck window before pulling out a man.
Some Latino-owned businesses closed over the weekend and remained shuttered through the week in the city of 943,000, one of the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas. Charlotte has drawn waves of newcomers in recent years, attracted by expanding finance, technology and logistics sectors. Photo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Wikimedia commons.
