DHS statement shows Border Patrol isn’t just going after ‘the worst’ in Charlotte | Opinion
Before the U.S. Border Patrol arrived in Charlotte, officials insisted the operation would target “criminal illegal aliens terrorizing Americans.”
But so far, that doesn’t really seem to be the case.
In a statement released Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said more than 130 arrests were made in the first two days of Operation Charlotte’s Web. According to the statement, just 44 of the people taken into custody actually have a criminal record.
DHS provided detailed information about only 11 people with criminal backgrounds in the statement, which is less than 10% of those detained, so even the 44 figure cannot be verified. It’s also not clear just how many of the 44 alleged criminals are actually guilty of violent crime. While officials have previously said they are focused on arresting gang members, murderers, rapists and pedophiles, the DHS statement named just two alleged gang members and did not mention anyone with a record of murder, rape or pedophilia.
If the figures are correct, it suggests that two-thirds of those arrested so far may not have any criminal record at all. That doesn’t really sound like a targeted operation focused exclusively on “the worst of the worst.” It sounds more like an operation that indiscriminately sweeps up undocumented immigrants, some of whom happen to have criminal histories.
That’s consistent with the Border Patrol’s recent operation in Chicago, where immigration officials primarily arrested people without criminal records. The Chicago Tribune reported last week that a list of 614 people arrested in the Chicago area included just 16 people with criminal histories that present a “high public safety risk.” None of them had any convictions for murder or rape.
It’s also clear from reports that what’s happening in Charlotte isn’t exactly a well-planned, highly-focused effort. Agents seem to be grabbing anyone they can find wherever they can find them. In one incident, Border Patrol stormed Myers Park Country Club without a warrant or prior permission to question and briefly detain an employee, whom they later released. They’ve questioned landscapers hanging Christmas lights in someone’s backyard, scanned small businesses and Home Depots, snatched people from grocery stores and parking lots and arrested them on the street while walking home. They yanked a U.S. citizen from his car after smashing the window and pinned him to the ground. It was their second time stopping him in the same parking lot in a number of minutes.
That’s not the sign of thoughtful enforcement actions. That’s the inefficient look of people trying to meet a quota, confronting people based on the color of their skin without any semblance of due process. It’s masked agents in paramilitary gear causing chaos in public places. It’s scary, and it’s wrong.
In a recent appearance on Fox News, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said her department is “going after the worst of the worst … people who have committed robberies, assaults, and DUIs, getting them off the streets and keeping people safe.” She and others at DHS have blasted state and local officials for not supporting the operation.
It may be true that some of the people detained are guilty of those offenses, and most leaders have said they would support efforts to remove seriously violent criminals from the streets. But DHS is also going after people who have no criminal history at all, including a mechanic who was chased down outside his workplace on Saturday, WFAE reported. That’s not the kind of crackdown the Trump administration has been describing, and it’s certainly not the kind of thing that makes Charlotte safer. It only makes people more afraid.
Paige Masten is a deputy opinion editor for the Charlotte Observer and McClatchy’s North Carolina Opinion team.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 12:44 PM.
