What we're covering
• At least 130 people were arrested in North Carolina’s largest city over the weekend in the Department of Homeland Security’s latest targeted immigration blitz, spearheaded by Customs and Border Protection and dubbed Operation Charlotte’s Web.
• Amid the crackdown, the Supreme Court announced today a review of the court’s first major immigration policy case of the term. Justices will review a controversial immigration policy adopted during the first Trump administration of turning away potential asylum seekers before they step foot on American soil.
• The community of Charlotte is on edge: Students at a local high school plan a walkout Monday to protest the action, and a popular Colombian bakery remains closed after the owner says agents tackled people outside his shop.
• Unlike other federal enforcement operations in Democratic-led cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, President Donald Trump made almost no prior mention of Charlotte, and local Democrats believe the action aims to “score political points.”
• While police say violent crime has dropped by 20% this year in Charlotte, the city got nationwide attention this summer after Iryna Zarutska, 23, was stabbed to death without provocation on public transit. She was a refugee and the suspect a US citizen.
Charlotte detainees being held in Georgia ICE facilities, immigration lawyer says
Some of the people detained in Charlotte by US Border Patrol agents are being transferred to detention facilities in Georgia, a North Carolina-based immigration attorney said today.
North Carolina doesn’t have long-term detention facilities, so detainees are being moved to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, and Folkston ICE Processing Center in Folkston, Georgia, immigration attorney Jeremy McKinney told CNN, citing accounts from people on the ground in Charlotte and attorneys working to locate detainees.
Detainees are typically moved by Immigration and Customs Enforcement based on facility availability and space.
CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for more information.
At least 130 people have been arrested amid the latest immigration crackdown in Charlotte, according to a DHS spokesperson.
Supreme Court to review rescinded Trump policy of turning away asylum seekers at the border
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will review a controversial immigration policy adopted during the first Trump administration of turning away potential asylum seekers before they step foot on American soil, setting up the first major immigration policy case of the term.
Federal law requires the government to process asylum seekers who arrive at ports of entry. But in 2018, President Donald Trump’s first administration began a policy known as “metering,” in which border agents simply turned back potential asylum seekers to Mexico before they entered the US.
An immigrant rights group, Al Otro Lado, and several asylum seekers filed a lawsuit in California challenging the policy. An appeals court based in San Francisco sided with the migrants, and the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court in July.
The practical impact of the litigation, at least for now, is limited at best. The Biden administration rescinded “metering” and instead began requiring most people seeking asylum to make an appointment before arriving at a port of entry.
Read the full story here.
At least 130 people arrested so far in Charlotte immigration blitz, DHS says
At least 130 people have been arrested in North Carolina’s largest city so far in “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” the newest Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection led immigration blitz, according to a DHS spokesperson.
“During the first two days of Operation Charlotte’s Web, Border Patrol arrested over 130 illegal aliens who have all broken the immigration laws of our country,” a DHS spokesperson told CNN in an email.
When asked how many of those arrested were undocumented immigrants and how many had previous criminal records, the DHS spokesperson responded, “Criminal records of those arrested include known gang membership, aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon, felony larceny, simple assault, hit and run, possession of stolen goods, shoplifting, DUI, DWI, and illegal re-entry after prior deportation, a felony.”
CNN has also reached out to CBP, ICE and HSI for those numbers.
How has the operation in Charlotte affected communities?
Before it even started, the announcement that an immigration enforcement operation would arrive in Charlotte — right on the heels of a weekslong operation that led to hundreds of arrests and fierce protests in Chicago — provoked fear and anxiety in the city.
Several businesses closed temporarily in the wake of the announced operation, among them a popular Colombian bakery that had closed its doors only once in the past 28 years.
Manuel “Manolo” Betancur closed his family bakery Saturday after men in green uniforms chased and tackled people outside the shop, he told CNN. He said he isn’t sure when he will reopen.
The officers emerged from unmarked SUVs on Saturday morning, “jumping and taking people down in the street, just people that look like me,” Betancur said. He is a naturalized US citizen and said he’s started carrying his passport with him everywhere he goes, “because I don’t want to go through the trouble. I promised my wife and my kids I’m going to be back home tonight.”
Betancur said he doesn’t want his customers to risk a similar encounter with federal agents — not when they’re just trying to buy cakes or pastries.
“It’s too risky and I don’t want to carry on my shoulders the heaviness of maybe a kid to lose their father or their mother because they were on their way to a bakery to get a cake,” he told CNN’s Sara Sidner this morning.
Is New Orleans the next target of the federal crackdown?
Top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino’s crackdown on immigration is expected to continue apace in other Democratic-led cities after Charlotte.
The next stop: New Orleans, according to two US officials familiar with the planning.
The president has talked about sending the National Guard to New Orleans, a Democratic-led city in a Republican-led state, as far back as September. The city has a “crime problem,” he said. But the National Guard plan hasn’t materialized, as efforts to deploy the National Guard in Chicago and Portland have largely been stymied by the courts.
The New Orleans mayor’s office has not responded to CNN’s outreach about possible future Border Patrol operations there.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday from West Virginia — before the Charlotte operation was officially announced — Bovino floated a few cities that the Border Patrol could target next.
“You’re going to see us redeploy to — it could be New York, it could be Chicago, it could be Charlotte.”
US citizen drove at law enforcement in Charlotte, DHS says
A US citizen drove at law enforcement during the federal immigration operation in Charlotte on Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security said.
Video shared to X by DHS shows some of what happened.
The driver of a large van drove at law enforcement “while they were conducting an operation” and immediately fled the scene — which led to a high-speed chase in the area, the DHS said.
Watch the clip here:
During the chase the driver “attempted to ram into law enforcement vehicles” and eventually agents boxed him in, the DHS said. “As agents were boxing him in — the driver proceeded to ram law enforcement vehicles in an attempt to escape,” the agency said.
One law enforcement officer was injured during the incident.
In the video, a white van can be seen driving off the street and onto a grassy area as it appears to go around law enforcement vehicles. At least two black SUVs are seen in pursuit of the van.
In the short video, the alleged ramming is not seen.
In its release, the DHS said the driver was arrested and firearms were found inside the vehicle. The driver has prior arrests for “resisting law enforcement, public disturbance and intoxication/disruptive conduct,” the agency said.
Car crashes or ramming incidents have happened over the past few months as many cities across the US have seen a crackdown on illegal immigration.
There have been crashes between federal agents and suspects trying to flee, as well as alleged ramming incidents which involved pro-immigrant activists.
Federal agents are in Charlotte — Asheville mayor says they could be next
As the Department of Homeland Security continues its immigration enforcement push in Charlotte, the mayor of Asheville said the small, artsy, tourist destination in Western North Carolina may be next.
“We have learned that Asheville may be a targeted city,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said in a statement last week.
“We value our strong relationships with all members of our community and remain dedicated to building trust while upholding the law,” the mayor continued. “We believe every person, regardless of immigration status, should feel safe in the community they call home.”
Manheimer echoed the words of North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, who in a message to the people of the state said of North Carolinians, “We follow the law. We remain peaceful. We do not allow ourselves to be provoked. We stand with our neighbors. And when we see injustice, we bear witness.”
Police in Asheville do not have authority to enforce immigration law, the mayor said.
CORRECTION: An earlier headline on this post incorrectly identified the agency behind the latest immigration operation in Charlotte. It is Customs and Border Protection.
Charlotte high school students plan protest
Students at one Charlotte high school are planning a walkout to protest the Department of Homeland Security’s targeted immigration blitz in North Carolina’s largest city.
“The student’s main objective is to provide protection and cover to their fellow students of immigrant descent,” a news release on the planned protest said.
The students at East Mecklenburg High School also plan to wear all black today as part of the protest, according to the release.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system issued a statement Sunday night saying there has been no immigration enforcement activity on school property and it has not received any notice of planned ICE actions at its schools.
The schools system reminded families it does not ask about immigration or citizenship status during enrollment, and immigration officials “cannot access staff, students, or private areas without a valid warrant or subpoena.”
Students should attend class, Miner said, but added that per district policy, students who miss assignments due to absence are allowed to make up the work regardless of why they missed school.
Charlotte-area leader says even after operation has started, CBP still isn't communicating
A top leader in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina — where Charlotte is located — says local officials still haven’t received any information from Customs and Border Protection on how it is conducting its new immigration enforcement operation.
Jerrell cited the case of Willy Wender Aceituno Medina, who is living in the US legally. His car window was smashed before he was briefly detained by federal agents. A CBP spokesperson later alleged in a statement that Aceituno had “refused to comply to lawful commands by officers.”
“We had a resident who is here legally who had their window broken out,” said Jerrell. “Why were they stopped? What is this that allows folks just to be detained on the street, essentially profiled?”
“There is a high level of profiling that appears to take place,” Jerrell added.
Why is Charlotte the latest target?
Charlotte hadn’t been previously publicly singled out as an enhanced immigration enforcement target by the Trump administration in the same way as other cities like Chicago and Los Angeles.
It’s a Democratic-led city, but it’s hundreds of miles away from the northern and southern borders. And crime has dropped 8% from last year, with violent crimes down 20%, according to data released by the city in October.
Democratic leaders in Charlotte have largely framed the operation — which came as a surprise to local officials — as a political distraction ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
“This administration ran on rhetoric that is anti-immigrant to score political points,” said City Council member Dimple Ajmera, a Democrat. “We have a very important US Senate race in 2026 coming up. And they want to score political points and use fear to divide our community.”
Charlotte became a lightning rod for debates about policing and public safety in Democratic-led cities in September, after a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee was stabbed to death on public transit by a man with a lengthy history of arrests and mental health problems.
Though the suspect arrested in that case is a US citizen, President Donald Trump seized on the killing as an example of what he framed as out-of-control crime, and he pledged to send the National Guard to blue cities across the country. Three Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation, who represent districts around Charlotte, asked the governor earlier this month to deploy the Guard to fight crime.
