North Carolina city braces for Border Patrol agents and immigration sweeps. Here's what to know

Audio By Carbonatix

Local authorities say federal immigration agents plan to target North Carolina's largest city, prompting activists, elected officials and community groups to monitor any sweeps and support vulnerable Charlotte residents.

The federal government has not publicly announced the move. But Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said he was informed that U.S. Customs and Border Protection could start an enforcement operation Saturday or soon after the weekend.

It would be another step in the Trump administration's strategy of putting immigration agents or the military on the streets of some of America's largest cities run by Democrats. The push has caused fear and anxiety, especially among people who don't have legal status in the U.S., and sparked a number of lawsuits challenging the tactics.

Here’s what to know:

Charlotte is a racially diverse city of more than 900,000 residents, including more than 150,000 who are foreign-born, according to local officials. It is run by a Democratic mayor, though North Carolina's two U.S. senators are Republican and President Donald Trump won the state all three times that he's run for office.

Crime was down this year, through August, compared to the same eight-month period in 2024, with homicides, rapes, robberies and motor vehicle thefts decreasing by more than 20%, according to AH Datalytics, which tracks crime across the country using local data for its Real-Time Crime Index.

But the Trump administration has used the August fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutskaha on a Charlotte light-rail train as evidence that Democratic-led cities fail to protect residents. A man with a lengthy criminal record has been charged with murder.

There is no indication, however, that border agents could or would have a role in enforcing local or state laws.

Critics have described the arrival of border agents as an invasion. Local groups are training volunteers to protest and to safely document any immigration sweeps. They’re also informing immigrants of their rights.

“We’ve seen what has taken place in other cities across this country when the federal government gets involved,” state Rep. Jordan Lopez said.

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell urged the public to “meet the moment peacefully" and "reduce panic.”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has said it has no authority to enforce federal immigration laws and is not involved in operations by Customs and Border Protection.

There is no sign that the National Guard will go to Charlotte, though three Republican members of North Carolina's congressional delegation have urged Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, to make that request.

The governor's office said local police are a better choice to keep neighborhoods safe.

The Trump administration has deployed the Guard to the District of Columbia and the Los Angeles area, citing crime and a need to protect immigration agents, and Memphis, Tennessee. A judge so far has stopped the Guard from working in the Chicago area.

___

AP reporter Christopher L. Keller contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico.