Immigration arrests in Charlotte have topped 250, federal government says

Mark Price, The Charlotte Observer on Nov 19, 2025

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Arrests in the ongoing U.S. Border Patrol Operation in Charlotte have now topped 250 since Saturday, according to federal officials.

That number climbed by more than 50 in the past day, and federal officials have not said how long the operation will continue. They also have expanded enforcement to Raleigh.

“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,” DHS officials told the Charlotte Observer.

Border Patrol agents descended on Charlotte Saturday and have been driving in caravans as they circle areas where the city’s immigrant population lives and works.

Agents in masks and paramilitary gear have approached people in shopping center parking lots, big box store parking lots, residential neighborhoods and a church to question them about their citizenship status and detain them.

Agents say they are targeting the “worst of the worst criminals” who are in the country illegally, but have so far only released limited information on suspects and their charges. A Nov. 18 news release said some of the suspects have been “convicted of heinous crimes including lewd acts with a child under 14, second degree manslaughter, and attempted murder.”

None of those people were arrested in North Carolina, though, and of the 11 people DHS has identified as being arrested in Charlotte, none have charges that serious.

GOP U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida’s 27th District told CNN in a Nov. 18 interview that of the 200 people arrested in Charlotte earlier in the week, “70% of them did not have a criminal record.”

The Charlotte Observer reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment and has not yet heard back.

Gregory Bovino, who is leading the Charlotte operation, reported on Tuesday an MS-13 gang member was arrested in Charlotte, after being removed from the U.S. five times.

Some U.S. citizens have also been arrested, including two men accused of “using their vehicles to assault, resist, or impede federal officers conducting immigration enforcement operations,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Western North Carolina.

The number of arrests appears to be slowly declining as the operation continues, with 130 arrested over the weekend, and about 70 arrested on Monday.

The U.S. Border Patrol’s operation in Charlotte followed one in Chicago, which came after a September U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing federal agents to stop and detain anyone they suspect is in the U.S. illegally based on little more than speaking Spanish or having brown skin, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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