More Than 250 Arrested in Immigration Enforcement Operation in North Carolina

DHS says ‘Operation Charlotte’s Web’ is targeting criminal illegal aliens in the Charlotte area.

U.S. Border Patrol Commander at large Gregory Bovino (R) looks on as a detainee sits by a car in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 17, 2025. Matt Kelley/AP Photo

Federal agents have made more than 250 arrests in and around North Carolina’s largest city during a recent immigration enforcement operation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Nov. 19.

The operation, dubbed Operation Charlotte’s Web. is part of the Trump administration’s larger push to remove as many illegal immigrants as possible via voluntary and involuntary deportation. 

“Sanctuary policies prevented nearly 1,400 detainers from being honored, putting criminal illegal aliens back on Charlotte’s streets,” DHS said on Nov. 15 when it announced the increased enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The agency said it was targeting criminal illegal immigrants who “flocked to the Tar Heel State because they knew sanctuary politicians would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.” 

Border czar Tom Homan announced on Nov. 18 that more than 30,000 missing illegal alien children have been located by the Trump administration.

Homan said during a Nov. 18 interview with Fox News that some on the extreme left wants “to attack ICE. They want to throw all these false narratives.”

“Where were they when half a million children were smuggled into this country, and they lost track of 300,000? You know what President Trump has done? I was with [Health and Human Services] today. We’ve already found over 30,000 of these kids. Three weeks ago, we were at 24,000. Now, we’re over 30,000. And we’re gonna keep working till we find every one of these kids,” he said.

The border czar also said there is now “less fentanyl killing Americans, less sex trafficking of women and children. And we’re finding children that [the] Biden administration wasn’t even looking for. And we’re the bad guys? It’s disgusting.”

At the same time, Homan announced an impending increase in federal immigration enforcement in New York City.

“I plan on being in New York City in the near future,” Homan said on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom” on Nov. 18. “We will increase the enforcement presence in New York City, again, because they’re a sanctuary city and we know we have an issue there with public safety threats hitting the street every day.”

The border czar said that government resources are focused on finding the worst offenders.

President Donald Trump said on Nov. 16 that he would meet with New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to discuss possible collaborations.

Homan said that regardless of who is in charge in a given city, it’s his job to “enforce the laws across this country and take those public safety threats off the street.”

“[In] sanctuary cities, we’re flooding the zone, because we know they are releasing public safety threats into communities every day,” Homan said.