ICE says agents arrested second man Monday in neighborhood near Charlotte school
Three parents of students at a Charlotte magnet school said Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a father near the school’s drop-off line on Monday, sparking concern for families.
One parent shared video of what appeared to be federal agents, one of whom was wearing a mask.
In a message to families Monday evening, Principal Sarah Lang of Charlotte East Language Academy confirmed that ICE “activity occurred near our school’s drop off line earlier today.”
ICE did not provide details of what happened.
The school’s PTA issued a statement on Instagram.
“We urge our school board to take a clear, public stance regarding ICE enforcement,” the PTA said. “School boards hold the power — and the responsibility — to create and uphold policies that protect our children and ensure schools remain safe, supportive spaces for every student.”
In a statement posted to Instagram Tuesday, the school 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.”
Through a school spokesperson, CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill declined to comment.
Across the country, increasingly public arrests by ICE are raising concerns.
In Charlotte last month, agents arrested four people outside the Mecklenburg County courthouse, leading Sheriff Garry McFadden to again call for the federal agency to cooperate with local officials. The sheriff’s office oversees the courthouse. One defense attorney called that situation “dangerous,” and said it was not clear the men making the arrests were ICE agents.
What a parent saw
Miriam Lara saw the ICE agents on Monday, when she drove her fifth grader to school early for tutoring, she said.
A video she took and provided to The Charlotte Observer showed what appeared to be the agents. One in the video had on jeans, a T-shirt and a tactical vest. Another man had on a face covering and a tactical vest.
“From afar, I saw there were some cars with lights on,” she recalled. “They had no labels on the cars or anything where they could be identified.”
She said the agents were holding three people in a car. She saw a young lady coming closer to the car and crying, she said.
ICE’s actions on Monday scared her son, Lara said, and made him worried for his schoolmate. She said she fears that racial profiling is happening in the country. And she is troubled that unidentified agents — who she said could be a random vigilante as far as anyone knows — are stopping people.
“Parents should feel OK to drop off their kids and pick them up,” she said.
State representative criticizes arrest
“We do think that it’s appalling that parents taking their American citizen children to school would have to go through a traumatic event like this,” said Manny Gomez, another school parent whose wife is the PTA president. “There has to be a better way of doing that.”
He said he was heartbroken at the thought of parents being afraid to take their children to school.
Charlotte East Language Academy is a Spanish immersion magnet school. Gomez said the PTA is trying to find anyone with political influence who might listen — be that the local school board, the sheriff’s office or state government.
In a statement, state Rep. Jordan Lopez, a Democrat from Mecklenburg, said that ICE actions on or near school property jeopardize student safety and well-being.
“Since January, our office has heard dozens of stories from students and advocates who are fearful of going to school,” Lopez said.
He seconded the PTA’s calls for the school board to take action.
CMS board member Melissa Easley responded to the incident on Facebook, saying “no child should be afraid to go to school. No family should fear being near a school building. The presence of ICE in a drop-off zone is not just a policy issue — it’s a violation of the trust our families place in schools as safe spaces.”
She said that while CMS has given guidance to district employees about how to respond to ICE agents who may arrive on campus, that guidance “stops at the school property line.”
“We need laws that protect families coming to school for school reasons,” she wrote. “Schools and their surrounding areas should never be staging grounds for immigration enforcement.”
Another parent wrote a column about the incident published Tuesday in the Observer.
“There were kids in the car. They were heading to school,” Sara Kay Mooney wrote in the editorial. “The father, who was detained, was the family’s primary financial provider. The family is now facing a profound disruption and painful separation, and our school community is reeling.”
Another man arrested
ICE arrested at least one other person in the area on Monday, according to a statement from the agency on Wednesday.
Agents encountered Adrian Ojeda-Calvillo on a public sidewalk and took him into custody “without incident,” the statement said. ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams said there were two different arrests. Ojeda-Calvillo is not the Charlotte East Language Academy parent, Williams said.
“We’re talking about two different arrests,” he told the Observer.
ICE had not released information about the parent as of Wednesday afternoon.
Observer staff writer Rebecca Noel contributed.
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 13, 2025 at 2:25 PM.