Federal Border Patrol agents are expected to expand their operations in North Carolina on Tuesday to include Raleigh, the state capital, local officials said, in the latest escalation of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, which has targeted Democratic-run cities.
Since Saturday, the Border Patrol had been focusing its efforts in North Carolina on Charlotte, the state’s largest city, which is home to a growing population of immigrants, especially from Latin America. The expansion to the state’s heavily Democratic Research Triangle region, which includes Durham and Chapel Hill as well as Raleigh, puts a purple state firmly at the center of one of the Trump administration’s most visible immigration strategies.
More than 130 people have been arrested in Charlotte, and the action there has drawn criticism akin to what opponents said about similar operations in Los Angeles and Chicago this year: that Hispanic people were being profiled, and that the agents’ aggressive tactics had provoked communities, disrupted businesses and incited fear.
The leader of those operations, Gregory Bovino, has posted comments online about some of the people arrested in Charlotte, saying that they had criminal histories and declaring their arrests successes in the Border Patrol’s mission to deport people who are deemed dangerous. The Department of Homeland Security said 44 of the people arrested in Charlotte as of early Monday have criminal histories.
Several episodes in Charlotte over the weekend prompted widespread criticism, including one in which agents approached a landscaper who was hanging Christmas decorations, and another in which an agent smashed in the window of a U.S. citizen’s truck and the man, who is Hispanic, was temporarily detained. Videos posted on social media have shown agents approaching people at grocery stores, Home Depots and construction sites in and around Charlotte.
Some people have posted comments online encouraging the operation, especially on X, where Mr. Bovino often responds to both critics and supporters. One supporter thanked him for having immediately detained “Juan illegal alien,” using an offensive pun for a Hispanic person.
“We had a record day today!” Mr. Bovino replied. “Massive numbers in Charlotte. Some good criminals also.”
Mayor Janet Cowell of Raleigh, a Democrat, said in a statement that “as the capital city, it is important to us that everyone who lives, works, plays and learns in Raleigh feels safe.” She added that the city’s police department would not be involved in immigration enforcement.
On Tuesday morning, people in several WhatsApp chats that are filled with immigration advocates and undocumented people said they were bracing for the arrival of federal agents in the Raleigh area.
The Department of Homeland Security has not fully explained the details of its operation in the Research Triangle, and it is unclear how many agents would be deployed there.
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, has said that while he supported any efforts to target violent criminals and get them off the streets, the actions of too many of the federal agents in Charlotte were “not making us safer — it’s stoking fear and dividing our community.”
Eduardo Medina is a Times reporter covering the South. An Alabama native, he is now based in Durham, N.C.
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