North Carolina city braces for Border Patrol agents and immigration sweeps. Here’s what to know
Local authorities say federal immigration agents plan to target North Carolina’s largest city, prompting activists, elected officials and community groups to monitor any sweeps and support vulnerable Charlotte residents.
The federal government has not publicly announced this decision. But Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said he was informed that U.S. Customs and Border Protection could launch an enforcement operation Saturday or shortly after the weekend.
It would be another step in the Trump administration’s strategy of sending immigration agents or the military onto the streets of some of America’s largest cities run by Democrats. The move has sparked fear and anxiety, particularly among people who lack legal status in the United States, and sparked a number of lawsuits challenging the tactic.
Here’s what you need to know:
Charlotte is a multiracial city of more than 900,000 residents, including more than 150,000 foreign-born, according to local officials. It is led by a Democratic mayor, although North Carolina’s two U.S. senators are Republicans and President Donald Trump has won the state every time he has run for office.
Crime declined this year, through August, compared to the same eight-month period in 2024, with homicides, rapes, robberies and motor vehicle thefts down more than 20 percent, according to AH Datalytics, which tracks crime across the country using local data for its real-time crime index.
But the Trump administration has used the August stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutskaha on a Charlotte light rail train as evidence that Democratic-run cities are failing to protect their residents. A man with a long criminal record has been charged with murder.
There is no indication, however, that border agents could or would have a role to play in enforcing local or state laws.
Critics have called the arrival of border agents an invasion. Local groups train volunteers to safely protest and document any immigration operations. They also inform immigrants of their rights.
“We’ve seen what happened in other cities across the country when the federal government got involved,” said state Rep. Jordan Lopez.
Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell urged the public to “meet the moment peacefully” and “reduce panic.”
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has said it has no authority to enforce federal immigration laws and is not involved in Customs and Border Protection operations.
There is no indication the National Guard will travel to Charlotte, although three Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation have urged Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, to make the request.
The governor’s office has said local police are a better choice for keeping neighborhoods safe.
The Trump administration has deployed the Guard to the District of Columbia and the Los Angeles area, citing crime and the need to protect immigration agents, as well as to Memphis, Tennessee. So far, a judge has blocked the Guard from working in the Chicago area.
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AP reporter Christopher L. Keller contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
