Federal Border Patrol sweep across Charlotte sparks fear, closed shops and protests
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Border Patrol in Charlotte
U.S. Border Patrol began making rounds in Charlotte on Saturday morning.
This follows recent Border Patrol activity in Chicago that made headlines, with some reports alleging agents violated people’s rights.
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After days of growing fear and speculation, masked federal agents swept across Charlotte and its suburbs on Saturday, detaining and arresting people outside restaurants, in parking lots, at a church and along busy roads. The sudden show of force shuttered businesses and sent fear through immigrant communities.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation unfolded less than two months after Border Patrol first stationed at least 200 agents in Chicago, where officers questioned residents, used tear gas and made 1,500 arrests since September, according to CBS News. In Charlotte, the mission’s scope and duration remained unclear, and local leaders said they received insufficient notice of a deployment.
By late morning, federal agents had appeared at restaurants, shopping centers and busy roadways from Central Avenue to Pineville-Matthews Road. A Charlotte Observer reporter saw agents carrying large guns on South Boulevard, while witnesses described men being cornered in parking lots, stopped as they walked to their cars, snatched from a church, and in one case, having a truck window smashed and keys taken. Residents used social media to share filmed arrests and repeated stops across Charlotte as the operation expanded into Matthews.
Border Patrol has not said how many agents arrived from Chicago or how long they plan to stay in the region, and local leaders said they received no explanation for the mission or why Charlotte was chosen. Elected officials said they learned of the deployment from news reports and from Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden rather than through federal briefings.
Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol official leading the Charlotte operation, said on X Saturday evening that the agency had a “record day.” “Massive numbers in Charlotte,” he said. “Some good criminals also.” Manuel “Manolo” Betancur, who closed his Charlotte bakery for the first time in 28 years due to agent activity, said CBP is not looking for criminals. “They’re lying, man,” Betancur said. “They’re not chasing criminals. They’re chasing anyone who looks, speaks like me, who has an accent like me.”
In a statement Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said it was “surging resources” to North Carolina for “Operation Charlotte’s Web.” Federal officials said the operation is focused on people with criminal records who, according to DHS, were released after local jurisdictions did not “honor” more than 1,400 detainer requests statewide.
Arrests at church, grocery stores, and Lowe’s
Some of the day’s most significant moments played out across multiple neighborhoods and commercial corridors on Saturday.
Near the intersection of South Boulevard and Archdale Drive, Willy Aceituno said agents broke a window of his pickup truck outside the Pollo Campero restaurant and took his keys. He said agents stopped him twice within about 10 minutes.
“Are you an illegal immigrant?” he said an agent asked.
“I don’t have to answer your questions,” he said he replied. “Why don’t you ask other people that? Why just me?”
Aceituno said he is originally from Honduras and has been a U.S. citizen for about six years.
In east Charlotte, church members said a typical Saturday turned chaotic when masked federal agents arrived and detained one of the congregants.
Around 15 to 20 people had been doing yard work on the Albemarle Road property while children played nearby and others cooked. The church’s pastor, who declined to identify himself or the congregation, said agents parked outside a closed gate and ran into the yard without offering identification or asking questions before taking a man whose wife and child were inside at the time.
Some workers ran into the surrounding woods as the agents moved through the property, and inside the church, families cried as they tried to understand what had happened.
At Nazo’s Mediterranean Bowls and Salads on Pineville-Matthews Road, manager Adam Maaroufi said he watched at least three agents in two black SUVs corner a man outside. He said he also saw agents stop five or six other men walking in the nearby Walmart parking lot.
“Just very, very rough to watch,” Maaroufi said.
Just before 11 a.m., an Observer reporter saw two agents walking with large guns near an AutoZone on South Boulevard as drivers honked and bystanders recorded the scene with their phones. Social media posts also reported sightings on Arrowood Road, Sharon Amity Road and Archdale Drive.
In Pineville, a store owner said Border Patrol agents with rifles chased employees outside the Super G Mart before entering the business and pulling out a worker.
The incident, portions of which were captured on video, happened around 2 p.m., according to Peter Han, whose family owns the international grocery chain. Han said employees ran when they saw agents in the parking lot, and that several armed officers then came into the self-checkout area, restrained the worker and took him.
In the heart of the city’s immigrant community, a picture posted on social media around 9:30 a.m. Saturday by Immigration Alerts CLT appeared to show two federal agents standing behind a man with his hands behind his back on Rosehaven Drive near Central Avenue. Greg Asciutto, executive director of the nonprofit CharlotteEAST, said many businesses along Central Avenue closed Saturday because of the federal activity. His group warned residents to stay away from the area.
In Matthews, construction worker Jesse Pacheco said he and his team were picking up supplies at a Lowe’s store when agents arrived in two SUVs and questioned them. He said Border Patrol took one of his workers without telling them where the man was being brought. The experience left Pacheco feeling “useless,” “intimidated” and targeted as a Hispanic person, he said.
“It’s discriminatory. It should not happen,” Pacheco said.
Protests in Charlotte
As confusion spread across the city, residents gathered along South Boulevard to condemn the operation. A protest formed as federal agents continued moving through the area. Deb Douglas of Indivisible Charlotte joined the demonstration and criticized what she saw.
“The federal agents are ‘running around with masks, hiding their identities to break laws and harass community members,’” Douglas said. “They’re lawless.”
Eddym Ortiz, who asked Douglas for a sign so he could also protest, said he had been following federal agents since 5 a.m. At one point, he said, agents moved toward a Latino man exiting a store. Ortiz said he followed the man and the agents and then asked the officers what they were doing.
“They said ‘Mind your business and get the f--- out of here. If not, I’m going to shoot you right now,’” Ortiz said. “I let him know I know my rights, I’m a USA citizen.”
Political organizations reacted sharply. Adrian Maldonado Jr., president of the North Carolina Democratic Party’s Hispanic American Caucus, called the operation “political tyranny at its core” and said “it is no mistake Donald Trump chose the city that thousands of immigrants call home.”
The Mecklenburg County Republican Party defended the federal action, saying Democratic leaders had chosen “to inflame fear and spread misinformation.”
Local leaders call for calm and clarity
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, Mecklenburg County commissioners’ chair Mark Jerrell and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board chair Stephanie Sneed issued a joint statement saying residents “simply want to go about their lives.” They said the agents’ arrival had caused “unnecessary fear and uncertainty in our community.”
“Our region has thrived and grown because our strength lies in our diversity and our collective commitment to each other and to this community,” the statement said. “Let us all — no matter our political allegiance — stand together for all hard working and law-abiding families.”
The statement told people to protest peacefully. It also noted that organizations are available to offer legal guidance on immigration matters and answer questions about a person’s status and rights.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said the department does not participate in Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations and is not involved in planning or carrying out federal immigration enforcement activities. CMPD said its officers are not authorized to assist with ICE administrative warrants, which are civil in nature, and may participate only when there is criminal behavior or a criminal warrant that falls under the department’s jurisdiction.
Bovino responded to criticism from state leaders in a social media post.
“Immigrants rest assured, we have your back like we did in Chicago and Los Angeles,” Bovino wrote on X. “Rep. Adams, perhaps you & Gov. STEIN should learn the difference between an illegal alien & an immigrant. Illegal aliens have NO PLACE in our communities and should self deport via CBP Home.”
Staff photographer Khadejeh Nikouyeh, reporters Jeff A. Chamer, Nick Sullivan, Ryan Oehrli, Mary Ramsey, and editor Melissa Oyler contributed.
This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Federal Border Patrol sweep across Charlotte sparks fear, closed shops and protests."
