Charlotte Officials Stand Against ICE Raids, Reassure the Community

(CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA) Federal immigration agents have launched a surge of enforcement activity in Charlotte, making arrests since November 14, 2025, and triggering an unusually unified backlash from city, county and state leaders who say the ICE raids are sowing fear and confusion while bypassing local agencies.

Mayor Vi Lyles, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry L. McFadden, state House Rep. Aisha Dew, Congresswoman Alma Adams and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) have all moved quickly to distance themselves from the operation and to tell immigrants that local authorities are not taking part in federal immigration enforcement in Charlotte.

Federal officials have not released public details about the operation, but local officials say they were told that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), would be active in the city. Sheriff Garry L. McFadden said,

“I was contacted a day earlier by two separate federal officials confirming that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel will be arriving in the Charlotte area as early as this Saturday or the beginning of next week.”
He added that his office has not been asked to help:
“At this time, specific details regarding the federal operation have not been disclosed and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has not been requested to assist with or participate in any enforcement actions.”

In neighborhoods across Charlotte, residents have reported people being detained outside homes and businesses since the ICE raids began on that Friday. Community groups describe a visible uptick in marked and unmarked federal vehicles, and they say calls have come in from workers, parents and students worried about going outside, sending children to school or even answering the door. While the Department of Homeland Security has said the enforcement surge is focused on public safety, elected officials in Charlotte argue the main impact so far has been fear and disruption.

Mayor Vi Lyles, who has often tried to balance Charlotte’s role as a banking and business hub with its growing immigrant population, acknowledged that even she is operating with limited information from Washington.

“We still don’t know any details on where they may be operating and to what extent. I understand this news will create uncertainty and anxiety for many people in our community. Everyone in our community deserves to feel secure, and I am committed to doing all that I can to inform our community, help make sure everyone feels safe, and understands their rights,”
she said in a statement addressing the ICE raids and their impact on Charlotte.

Lyles focused directly on the role of local agencies, stressing that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is not working with ICE or CBP in this operation.

“It is also important that people understand CMPD is not involved in federal immigration activities, so people who need local law enforcement services should feel secure calling 911,”
she said. Her comments reflect a central concern among city leaders: that immigrants may avoid calling police, reporting crimes or seeking help if they assume any interaction with local agencies could lead to immigration checks.

The CMPD moved to reinforce that message with its own statement. The department said,

“CMPD has no authority to enforce federal immigration laws and does not participate in ICE operations, nor are we involved in the planning of these federal activities.”
That stance echoes policies in many large U.S. cities, where police departments say their mission is neighborhood safety, not immigration enforcement, and that blurring those lines can make entire communities less safe.

Local officials say rumors about checkpoints, school visits and mass round-ups have spread quickly through social media and messaging apps since the ICE raids in Charlotte began, making it harder to keep people calm and informed. Mayor Lyles directly addressed that problem, saying,

“There continues to be rumors about enforcement activities and I would ask that everyone refrain from sharing unverified information. Doing so creates more fear and uncertainty when we need to be standing together. We will continue to work with local and state partners to do what we can to ensure the safety of our community.”
Federal agents, according to local reports, have been active not only in residential areas but also near workplaces and commercial districts. Residents say they have seen CBP and ICE agents waiting in parking lots, approaching people as they leave homes, and asking questions near businesses popular with immigrant customers. The lack of official, detailed guidance from Washington has left city and county leaders trying to respond in real time, reassuring families while they themselves rely on piecemeal updates from federal contacts.

The political response has extended beyond city hall and the sheriff’s office. At a press conference bringing together officials from multiple levels of government, State House Rep. Aisha Dew, a Democrat representing District 107, made the shared opposition explicit.

“We’re all gathered here from many branches of government, from obviously our state Legislature, our school board, our County Commission, our City Council members, because we do not want ICE here,”
she said. Her comment underlined how the ICE raids in Charlotte have turned into a rare moment of consensus across typically divided local institutions.

For immigrant families, the message from these officials is that while they do not control federal agents, they want residents to keep trusting local agencies, especially in emergencies. That is why leaders keep repeating that people should still call 911, report domestic violence, cooperate with police investigations and seek medical help when needed. They worry that if people stay silent or hidden out of fear of arrest, the whole city’s safety suffers.

Congresswoman Alma Adams, who represents parts of Mecklenburg County in Washington, went further in her criticism, linking the deployment of Border Patrol and ICE agents to a broader pattern of aggressive federal tactics in other cities.

“I am extremely concerned about the deployment of US Border Patrol and ICE agents to Charlotte. Charlotte’s immigrant community is a proud part of the Queen City, and I will not stand by and watch my constituents be intimidated or harassed,”
she said. She then pointed to previous incidents that have alarmed civil rights advocates, adding,
“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, and what we have seen Border Patrol and ICE agents do in places like Chicago and Los Angeles—using excessive force in their operations and tear gassing peaceful protestors—threatens the well-being of the communities they enter. Those tactics and values have no place in the city of Charlotte or Mecklenburg County.”

Her reference to Chicago and Los Angeles captures worries that tactics used during protests and earlier enforcement waves elsewhere could now come to North Carolina’s largest city. While there have been no public reports from officials in Charlotte of tear gas or crowd control weapons being used in the current ICE raids, the fear that operations could escalate is part of what is driving the strong reaction from local agencies and elected leaders.

That reaction is not only about policy differences; it is also about who controls policing in Charlotte. Sheriff McFadden’s statement that the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office has not been asked to assist with or participate in any enforcement actions highlights a deeper tension between federal immigration agencies and local law enforcement. In recent years, debates over programs that link local jails with immigration databases have flared in many communities, with some sheriffs and city councils limiting cooperation while others welcome it. In Charlotte, the current message from local agencies is clear: immigration enforcement is a federal job, and they will not join these specific ICE raids.

For families trying to piece together what is happening, that distinction can be hard to grasp. The presence of any badge or uniform can be enough to trigger panic, especially for people from countries where local and national forces operate together. That is why officials like Mayor Lyles keep repeating that CMPD officers do not carry out immigration arrests and that their priority in Charlotte is crime prevention and response, not status checks.

Community organizations, while not quoted in the official statements, have been working alongside these local agencies to translate messages into Spanish and other languages, share know-your-rights information, and warn residents to be cautious but not paralyzed by fear. The mayor’s appeal that people

“understand their rights”
is a nod to these efforts, which often include workshops on what to do if approached by ICE, what documents to carry, and how to prepare emergency plans for children in case a parent is detained.

The timing of the enforcement surge, just as the holiday season approaches, has added to the emotional strain. Arrests outside homes and businesses in mid-November mean some families are now facing Thanksgiving and winter holidays unsure whether relatives will be present or locked in distant detention centers. Even people with lawful status or pending applications can feel the pressure, worried about being questioned or mistakenly swept up while going about their daily lives in Charlotte.

Federal agencies involved in the ICE raids operate under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, which says its mission includes enforcing immigration laws, stopping cross-border crime and protecting public safety. ICE and CBP have broad legal authority to arrest people believed to be in the country unlawfully, especially those with certain criminal records or outstanding removal orders. Information about their operations and policies is available on the official U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, but in practice, local communities often only learn the details of specific raids after they happen.

In Charlotte, the gap between federal authority and local responsibility is at the heart of the current dispute. City leaders do not control where or when ICE raids occur, yet they must deal with the consequences: frightened families, schools unsure how many students will show up, businesses worrying about staff disappearing overnight, and local agencies fielding calls from anxious residents. By publicly stating that they are not participating, Mayor Lyles, Sheriff McFadden, CMPD, Rep. Dew and Congresswoman Adams are trying to reassure people that Charlotte’s own institutions remain accessible and on the side of community safety.

Their unified stance also sends a political message back to Washington. When Rep. Dew said,

“we do not want ICE here,”
and Adams said those federal
“tactics and values have no place in the city of Charlotte or Mecklenburg County,”
they were not only speaking to worried constituents but also challenging the choice to deploy CBP and ICE agents so visibly in the city. Whether that challenge leads to changes in how long the operation lasts, how it is carried out, or how much information is shared with local agencies remains to be seen.

For now, the ICE raids in Charlotte continue under a cloud of uncertainty. Federal agents are making arrests; residents are trading reports of sightings and detentions; and local agencies are trying to steady a community caught between national enforcement priorities and the everyday need to feel safe calling the police, sending children to school, or opening a shop door. As city officials keep stressing, everyone in Charlotte, regardless of immigration status, deserves to feel secure, and that simple promise is what is being tested as this enforcement surge unfolds.