Some North Carolina Republicans fear that President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Charlotte could alienate voters ahead of key elections. The federal operation, centered on the Charlotte area, has drawn criticism for sweeping up people with no serious criminal history and sparking fear in immigrant communities, even as the Trump administration defends it as a targeted effort against dangerous offenders.
President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in North Carolina, particularly around Charlotte, has stirred unease among some Republicans in the state, according to Politico.
The operation, known as “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” has involved U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents making arrests in multiple locations across the Charlotte area. Federal and local officials have said the surge is aimed at removing violent offenders and public safety threats, and the Department of Homeland Security has reported about 370 arrests tied to the operation so far, Politico reports.
In the first two days alone, federal officials said roughly 130 people were arrested, with 44 described as having criminal convictions including aggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, driving under the influence, and hit-and-run offenses; two of those arrested were identified as gang members, according to data cited by Politico. At the same time, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) said on Fox News that, over a 48‑hour span of enforcement nationwide, about 200 people were arrested and roughly 70 percent of those detained did not have criminal records, a figure she attributed to DHS data, Politico reports.
The breadth of the Charlotte operation has intensified criticism. Reporting by the Washington Post has documented agents appearing at locations including the upscale Myers Park Country Club and other high‑end establishments, while local and national outlets have described arrests near churches, businesses and schools.
Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory told Politico he worries that such widely publicized incidents are damaging the GOP’s image, pointing in particular to reports of a man who said he was a U.S. citizen being detained by federal agents outside a Charlotte shopping center and to enforcement activity at a local country club.
“Republicans had the upper hand on immigration, as long as they were going after the criminals and the gangs, but I think they’re losing the upper hand on that issue because of the apparent disjointed implementation of arrest,” McCrory said in an interview with Politico. He added that the administration should focus public attention on the arrest of serious offenders but is not doing so effectively.
Edwin Peacock III, a former Republican city council member and recent GOP candidate in Charlotte, likewise warned Politico of what he called a “real sour aftertaste” among some voters, asking, “Is the price of doing this worth it?” Republican pollster Patrick Sebastian told the outlet that while voters broadly support deporting people convicted of serious crimes, they tend to distinguish between those offenders and undocumented immigrants without criminal records.
Homeland Security officials, however, have publicly defended the operation. In statements reported by the Associated Press and Al Jazeera, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said DHS was “surging” law enforcement resources to Charlotte so that “public safety threats are removed” and that Americans should be able to live without fear of “violent criminal illegal aliens” hurting them. On Fox News, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem similarly argued that the raids are focused on “the worst of the worst,” including people involved in robberies, assaults and repeated DUI offenses, according to Politico’s account of the interview.
The enforcement surge has also become a flashpoint in North Carolina’s closely watched U.S. Senate race. As Politico reports, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, now a Senate candidate, has criticized the Charlotte operation, saying he supports using federal resources to deport violent offenders but opposes “randomly sweeping up people based on what they look like,” warning that such tactics can harm families and the state’s economy. The Department of Homeland Security, in turn, publicly rebuked Cooper on social media, highlighting a case in which state authorities had previously declined to transfer a Costa Rican national with a serious criminal history to ICE.
Republican Senate hopeful Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chair, has seized on the issue as well. According to Politico, he has accused Cooper of undermining public safety by vetoing legislation that would have required local law enforcement to honor ICE detainer requests, arguing that those vetoes allowed some non‑citizens with criminal records to remain free.
State Republicans are not unified in their messaging. North Carolina GOP chair Jason Simmons told Politico that social media has fueled what he views as a distorted picture of the operation, arguing that public attention should be focused on removing people convicted of offenses such as murder, sexual assault and trafficking rather than on individual viral videos and anecdotal accounts.
Democrats, meanwhile, have highlighted the broader impact of the raids. Gov. Josh Stein has said the surge is “stoking fear” in Charlotte and not making the city safer, according to PBS and other outlets, even as he has commended law enforcement for targeting violent criminals. Local coverage has described businesses closing, school absences rising and both citizens and non‑citizens reporting encounters with federal agents that left them feeling targeted or profiled.
These developments follow Democratic gains in recent off‑year elections nationally, raising concern among some Republican strategists quoted by Politico that the Charlotte operation could galvanize turnout in politically competitive areas like Mecklenburg County, where shifting suburban votes have already made North Carolina’s statewide races more volatile.
