ICE enforcement against Charlotte immigrants spikes in past week, advocates say
Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the Charlotte area spiked last week, according to Carolina Migrant Network.
The nonprofit runs a hotline community members can call to report suspected ICE activity. On a typical week, there might be two to four calls, co-founder Stefania Arteaga said at a press conference Monday at the nonprofit’s office in Charlotte. She said since last Monday, though, her staff received 133 calls.
“That does not include the various Facebook messages, WhatsApp messages and individual DMs we’ve received reporting ICE activities, ICE sightings and ICE detentions in our community,” she said.
Arrests have mainly been in Charlotte, and in particular near Central Avenue, Albemarle Road and North Tryon Street, she said. Other arrests happened in the South Boulevard, Pineville, Kannapolis, Concord and Monroe areas, she said.
She did not have exact numbers for how many people had been detained, but said they were high and “unusual.” The way ICE carried out arrests last week was also “extremely concerning,” she said.
“We have seen detentions in close proximity to schools — not just one but a couple,” she said.
Work vans and vehicles have also been targeted, and agents have been “aggressive,” she said.
ICE’s arrests in Charlotte have become increasingly public.
In late April, agents reportedly in plain clothes arrested four men near the Mecklenburg County courthouse. Charlotte East Language Academy’s parent teacher association reported last week that agents arrested a father near the school’s drop-off line. Also last week, WBTV reported that ICE agents chased a man from the courthouse into a nearby pond, then arrested him.
Charlotte ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams said Monday that there has been an increase in ICE activity across the country.
“We increase operations as needed,” he said.
Father of 11 arrested, daughter says
Joanna Martinez said ICE arrested her father, Jose, when he was on his way to work last Wednesday. Agents “stalked” his work van and questioned him about his immigration status on Central Avenue, she said.
He has “lovingly raised” 11 children, she said, and worked hard to build a business and provide for his family.
“He has been our sole provider, ensuring we always have food and a roof over our head,” his daughter said.
The days since have been agonizing for her family, she said, as they have tried to navigate a “broken and unresponsive immigration system designed to make finding a loved one nearly impossible.”
She drove six hours and finally saw her father, his coworkers and many of her neighbors in a detention center, she said.
“Since his detention I have struggled to sleep, tormented by the thought that he was left unfed for days and is suffering while being detained,” she said. “For the first time in my life, I saw my father cry — the man who had always been our rock, our provider, was reduced to tears. It shattered our hearts.”
She called on elected officials to denounce ICE’s recent actions in Charlotte and to “protect immigrant families to the best of their ability.”
Charlotte’s City Council and Mecklenburg County’s board of commissioners have been largely silent on recent arrests.
Earlier this month, Mayor Vi Lyles declined to comment on the first arrests reported outside the county courthouse.
PTA again speaks out
A parent to two children at Charlotte East Language Academy who is part of the PTA spoke at Monday’s press conference and said last week’s arrest was “deeply disturbing to our entire student body.”
“The detainment occurred right at the point where any car that enters into our area turns in, so it was witnessed by many students, many families,” said one of the school parents who spoke Monday, Amy Hawn Nelson. “It was sudden, it was public and just deeply disruptive. Children were afraid to drop off ... Staff and students were shaken. The family directly impacted is facing a heartbreaking separation.”
ICE has not shared any information about that arrest.
But some news reports tied a different, nearby arrest — one of a man with a criminal history — to the magnet school father. That man is not the father in question, ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams said last week. Hawn Nelson said the same.
“That man does not have a child at our school,” she said. “Misinformation like this is harmful and puts more families at risk.”
She said ICE enforcement near schools needs to end. She called on local officials to “provide clear, compassionate communication about immigration rights and resources to all CMS families.”
No child should fear coming to school and losing a family member at drop-off, she said.
In a statement last week, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board said its commitment to “the well-being of every student remains unwavering and we are dedicated to serving all students so that they can receive the best education possible for a promising future.”
The statement stressed that ICE had not attempted an arrest on school property.
Sheriff’s office says ICE did not reach out
Last week, a spokesperson for Sheriff Garry McFadden told The Charlotte Observer that ICE did not reach out to the sheriff’s office before it reportedly arrested the man who ran into a nearby pond.
“ICE has not had any conversations with Sheriff McFadden regarding the arrests at the courthouse. We asked ICE to notify us about their plans to arrest someone at the courthouse, but that has not happened yet,” spokesperson Sarah Mastouri said in an email Friday.
McFadden “discussed the need for clear communication to minimize disruptions of courthouse proceedings and ensure safety of everyone involved” with agents when they arrested four men outside the courthouse last month, she said.
She added that an ICE official in Atlanta emailed the sheriff on April 24 to start talking about “enforcement actions at or near the courthouse,” she said. McFadden later sent ICE a policy on arrest procedures in the sheriff’s office security plan, Mastouri said.
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 May 19, 2025 at 4:53 PM.