Charlotte immigration crackdown ends after hundreds arrested
According to multiple sources, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has completed “Operation Charlotte’s Web” throughout the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles confirmed the situation Thursday afternoon in a statement to reporters, saying she was glad the “intrusion” was over.
“It appears that U.S. Border Patrol has ceased its operations in Charlotte. I’m relieved for our community and the residents, businesses, and all those who were targeted and impacted by this intrusion,” Lyles said. “As we move forward, it is essential that we come together—not as separate groups divided by recent events, but as one Charlotte community. Our strength has always come from our ability to support one another, especially in challenging times. I am calling on all members of our community to join in this effort. Let us stand together, listen to one another, and recommit ourselves to the values of dignity, compassion, and unity that define our city.”
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department also provided a social media update, citing “reliable information” that the operations had concluded.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported around 370 arrests over a five day period in Charlotte.
“While the media and sanctuary politicians try and spread falsehoods and demean DHS law enforcement, the men and woman of DHS are risking their lives and safety to arrest illegal criminal aliens that are victimizing Americans,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “We are going to continue to do our job and stand up for North Carolinians who live in fear because of violent criminal illegal aliens.”
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said that while the operation has concluded, federal immigration authorities will continue their normal activities in the area. He emphasized that the sheriff’s office is not involved in these federal operations.
“We will continue to build relationships, mend bridges, and listen to the voices of everyone in our community,” McFadden said. “As we move forward, I want the city of Charlotte to know, I will keep fighting for clarity, accountability, and trust. I will continue to protect this city and every single one of its citizens.”
U.S. Senator Ted Budd, R-NC, blasted the Biden administration and sanctuary policies like those in Mecklenburg County.
The open border policies of the Biden admin and sanctuary cities are neither humane nor responsible.
— Senator Ted Budd (@SenTedBuddNC) November 19, 2025
Allowing dangerous illegal aliens to walk the streets freely is creating the same circumstances here that many immigrants fled to America to avoid in their home countries.
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Democrat North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls took to social media to comment on the operations, claiming CBP is violating individual constitutional rights.
“I cannot be silent while the constitutional rights of our neighbors are being violated right here in North Carolina,” Earls wrote. “Across the state, we are seeing reports of federal agents stopping and seizing lawful residents and immigrants with no criminal records, causing many North Carolinians to be fearful of leaving their homes, going to work, sending their children to school, shopping for food, or getting medical attention. The willingness of this administration to abandon the prosecution of serious crimes simply in service of political theater and to scapegoat immigrants is appalling. This is not who we are as a nation, and it’s not who we are as North Carolinians.”
Her colleague, Republican Justice Phil Berger, Jr, called the comments irresponsible.
“When law enforcement at any level acts outside of the bounds of the law, courts have tools to address those specific situations. That’s how our system works, through evidence, due process, and judicial review. But blanket assertions about law enforcement action not before a particular judge is irresponsible,” Berger said in a statement. “What undermines public confidence is not lawful enforcement activity, but the growing trend of judges asserting their personal opinions and positions without facts, without parties before them, and without the neutrality their office demands. Judges are not political commentators and we are not supposed to be advocates. When we speak as if we are, we blur boundaries.”
“Charlotte immigration crackdown ends after hundreds arrested” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.
