Border Patrol leaving Charlotte, sheriff and local officials say
READ MORE
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.
Expand All
The U.S. Border Patrol is leaving the Charlotte area after arriving Saturday, making arrests by confronting and questioning Latino people in public places, according to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.
There would be no further Border Patrol operations on Thursday, a press release from Sheriff Garry McFadden said, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue working in Charlotte.
Even as local officials said that Border Patrol was finished in the Queen City, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said agents were not finished.
“The operation is not over and it is not ending anytime soon,” she said in a statement.
McFadden did not answer a phone call from a reporter on Thursday and declined to be interviewed last week, when news of federal agents’ arrival broke.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police also posted a statement on social media Thursday saying they received “reliable information” that the Border Patrol had departed the Charlotte area.
The actions of the federal police under a Trump administration immigration crackdown included questioning and sometimes detaining U.S. citizens, and were met with outrage and protests.
“Border Patrol’s operation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg was an inhumane and unnecessary campaign of terror that disrupted the lives of our entire community,” U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, a Democrat from Charlotte, said in a statement.
She said that Charlotte did not cave, and that she was proud of people who banded together and pushed back.
Masked federal agents in paramilitary gear worked out of large SUVs arresting people, prompting businesses to close, especially in east Charlotte, and families to keep children out of school.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said over 370 people have been arrested in the Charlotte area as of Thursday. DHS has declined to provide many details, and would not release the names or information on most of the people arrested or taken. It remained unclear what has happened to them.
Federal agents targeted grocery stores, churches, and residential areas. At night, they flew drones. Throughout the week, agents faced opposition from protesters and community activists who tracked their movements and blew whistles to alert people to their presence, shouted in their faces, and filmed them.
Among other gatherings, members of the east Charlotte community have held loud protests in the evenings on Central Avenue that have the feel of a car parade and Latin street festival.
Some U.S. citizens were detained and some were accused of assaulting federal officers, but accounts made by the federal government conflict with accounts from the community.
Agents also made arrests in other North Carolina areas later in the week, including Raleigh and Cary.
Gov. Josh Stein has said the Trump administration would not provide information about the arrests and said the Border Patrol was racially profiling people.
With the news of their apparent departure, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles posted a brief statement on X.
“As we move forward, it is essential that we come together — not as separate groups divided by recent events, but as one Charlotte community,” that statement said in part. “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.”
Lyles was largely silent this week as agents carried out what federal officials called “Charlotte’s Web” in the city. In a different statement on Monday, she said city leaders were working to support the community “while working within complicated legal boundaries.”
In Charlotte this week, federal agents went onto a church grounds and arrested a man who was outside doing yard work while his wife and children were inside. They chased after employees inside a Super G store in Pineville and took out a worker, putting him on the ground and then taking him. Carolina Migrant Network, a group that provides legal services and runs a hotline for people to report the location of immigration officials, posted on social media that they received reports of Border Patrol and ICE outside their offices.
“We know this is an attempt to intimidate us — but we are not backing down,” the group posted.
Agents showed up at Myers Park Country Club and briefly detained an employee, then released him because he had valid documentation.
Border Patrol’s operation in Charlotte followed one in Chicago, which came after a September U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing federal agents sweeping permissions to stop and detain anyone they suspect is in the U.S. illegally.
With the court’s ruling, the stops could be based on little more than someone speaking Spanish or having brown skin, the Los Angeles Times reported.
During Border Patrol’s time in Chicago, agents used chemical weapons such as tear gas on the public at least 49 times across 18 incidents, even after a judge told them to stop. They were involved in eight car chases and used force in at least 76 incidents. They also rappeled down to an apartment complex from a helicopter and put people in zip ties.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Border Patrol leaving Charlotte, sheriff and local officials say."
