Charlotte ICE says agency gets little community support. ‘We do a lot of good’
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement official overseeing Charlotte said the agency gets little support from the community.
She would like to change that.
Assistant Field Office Director Maria Somers told The Charlotte Observer and Enlace Latino NC in an interview that nearly all North Carolina sheriffs — including many who have publicly disagreed with the agency’s tactics — are now working with ICE.
But as an immigrant from Mexico living in the community, she knows that ICE is not well-received in Charlotte generally, she said. She has defended controversial arrests and the use of face coverings by ICE agents, saying they fear being doxxed.
“Almost everyone has this impression or this mindset that ICE is bad,” she said. “You guys, we do a lot of good for the community.”
Specifically, she said, ICE is “arresting criminals” and “getting them off the street.”
It’s unclear how many people ICE has arrested in Charlotte or North Carolina. According to available public data, more than 28,000 people have been arrested by ICE so far this year in both the Carolinas and Georgia.
Churches and parent-teacher associations have been among those critical of ICE’s presence and tactics.
“The truth of the matter is we don’t know who that (arrestee) is,” Somers said. “But that person could be your next Laken Riley murderer, or whomever.”
Laken Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia. Jose Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant, killed her. Prosecutors in the case said she “refused to be his rape victim.” The killing led Congress to pass a law requiring authorities to detain and deport undocumented immigrants accused — but not convicted — of certain crimes.
Somers said she has not heard much from local groups.
“I will be honest with you: I don’t have too many people knocking on my door — NGOs, things like that,” she said.
She is open to more of those conversations, she said.
“If the community understands the work that we’re doing and understands that we’re not just going out there and arresting people, racially profiling — there is a bigger picture, removing criminals from our streets — I think we’ll have a better relationship,” she said.
The Charlotte Observer and Enlace Latino NC are news partners and interviewed ICE together. 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 September 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM.