The Trump administration’s strategy of using federal agents and troops to enforce immigration laws and what it says is a bid to reduce crime in U.S. cities has extended to North Carolina. Border Patrol agents made scores of arrests in Charlotte over the weekend and then moved into the Raleigh area on Tuesday.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been heavily involved in many of the cities. National Guard troops have been called in to help in a few of them. In other cities, the federal intervention has involved agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Here is how federal forces have been used in cities:
Charlotte: How long will federal forces be there?
The federal operation in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, began on Saturday, and it was uncertain how long it would last. The city’s booming Latin American population, which has helped fuel the city’s growth as a Southern business hub, drew the attention of the Trump administration, whose focus has been on Democratic-led cities with large immigrant communities.
Border Patrol agents made more than 130 arrests in the city over the weekend. The agents are led by Gregory Bovino, a senior official in the agency who is from western North Carolina and who has directed similar operations in Chicago and Los Angeles this year.
The use of the Border Patrol, an arm of Customs and Border Protection that has focused primarily on the nation’s southern border in recent years, is an example of how the Trump administration has expanded the scope of some of its agencies. In the past, the Border Patrol has operated mostly near a land or maritime border, whereas ICE typically operates inside the United States. (The Border Patrol and ICE are each part of the Department of Homeland Security.)
But the Border Patrol’s stated mission is to detect and prevent the illegal entry of people into the United States, so it can make arrests anywhere in the nation, though some of its powers — like the ability to stop and search people — are more limited outside a zone of 100 miles near a border.
Raleigh: Broadening operations in North Carolina
Border Patrol agents expanded their operations in North Carolina on Tuesday by deploying agents to the state’s heavily Democratic Research Triangle region, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The full scope of the operation was not immediately clear. But North Carolina is the first state to be targeted that is considered a political battleground state.
Chicago: With Greg Bovino gone, what’s next?
The federal crackdown on illegal immigration that began in the Chicago area in early September goes on, though it has been tamped down somewhat by the courts. Before he departed, Mr. Bovino and federal agents that included Border Patrol personnel had in recent weeks taken some of the most aggressive actions yet.
A federal judge condemned agents for using unnecessary force that included using tear gas and pepper spray against Chicago residents without giving them proper warning, and for pointing guns at civilians who were not a physical threat. The judge also said Mr. Bovino had lied to her about his tactics. The Justice Department argued that the tactics were justified because some protesters had become violent.
President Trump has sought to deploy National Guard troops from Illinois and Texas to the city, too, but that effort remains tied up in the courts. Last weekend, the federal government said it was sending 200 Texas National Guard troops back home who had yet to be deployed on Chicago streets.
Overall, the federal operation in the region has resulted in more than 3,000 arrests. But the sweeps have rounded up American citizens and legal residents, too.
Memphis: Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, welcomes intervention
Memphis is the only Democratic-led city in a state with a Republican governor that has seen federal forces move in. On Monday night, a judge in Tennessee temporarily blocked the National Guard from participating in federal actions in the operation, which Mr. Trump and state officials have said has focused on combating serious crime. (The state is expected to appeal the ruling before the pause takes effect.)
But the use of the Guard was just one part of a broad federal task force, which is otherwise unaffected by the ruling. More than a dozen agencies have taken part since it began in late September, including the F.B.I.; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration, resulting in more than 2,600 arrests. Some of those arrested have been undocumented immigrants, and residents have reported seeing immigration agents throughout the city.
Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, has welcomed the federal effort and agreed to deploy the Guard. But many local Democratic officials in Memphis, while acknowledging that crime has been a longstanding issue, have said that serious crime was already on the decline and that using the Guard was unnecessary. Still, many have made a point of working with the extra federal resources.
Protests in Memphis have been far more muted than in other cities in part because many groups have focused their efforts more on informing residents, hoping to lower the number of arrests or stops by federal agents.
Los Angeles: After raids in June, immigration sweeps go on
Nowhere has the presence of federal forces been more apparent than in Los Angeles, home to the country’s largest population of undocumented immigrants. Raids across Southern California in June led to huge protests that prompted President Trump to send 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city. Mr. Bovino, the Border Patrol chief who oversaw that operation, left the Los Angeles area in September to lead operations in Chicago and then Charlotte. But federal agents have remained in the area and continue to conduct immigration sweeps.
County and city officials have said that they have received almost-daily reports from residents of immigration sweeps from South Los Angeles to the Inland Empire region east of the city. Through mid-October, there had been more than 5,000 immigration arrests in the Los Angeles area, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Local leaders have said that the arrests and continued presence of federal immigration agents in the area have instilled fear among immigrant communities.
Portland, Ore.: Modest protests continue outside ICE facility
The Trump administration ramped up its immigration enforcement in the city around June, and a small but persistent group of protesters has held daily demonstrations outside Portland’s ICE building ever since. Skirmishes with the authorities led to the closing of that building for more than three weeks at one point, according to the Department of Homeland Security, but protests had largely fizzled by September. Late that month, however, Mr. Trump tried to send National Guard troops to the city, saying that the ICE building and federal workers there needed to be protected from “war-ravaged Portland.”
Portland and Oregon sued, and a federal judge this month issued a permanent block on the deployment. The administration is appealing. Over the weekend, the Pentagon said that it was going to send home about 200 California National Guard troops who had been sent to Portland but never deployed on the streets. About 100 Oregon National Guard troops remain under federal control and on standby.
Protests at the ICE facility have generally been peaceful and small — usually fewer than a dozen people. But a few confrontations have turned violent, with federal officers using tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper-spray balls.
Washington, D.C.: Mixed reactions on crime crackdown
Mr. Trump began a takeover of the nation’s capital in August after claiming that crime had gotten out of control (though data suggested crime has dropped in the district). At the forefront of the order was the deployment to D.C. of about 2,300 National Guard troops.
They have also been directed to help efforts to beautify the city, and they have spent parts of the last few months picking up leaves and depositing mulch at parks. The troops are expected to remain well into 2026. The District of Columbia has sued, arguing that the Trump administration has exceeded its authority by ordering in the troops without the consent of Mayor Muriel Bowser, and by using those troops to conduct law enforcement. The judge has not yet ruled on the case.
But Ms. Bowser has welcomed assistance from other federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who have coordinated with the D.C. police to get guns and drugs off the street. The Department of Justice said last week that in the 100 days since the federal takeover, more than two dozen federal and local agencies had made more than 6,000 arrests and seized more than 600 illegal guns.
Reporting was contributed by Eduardo Medina, Emily Cochrane, Julie Bosman, Mitch Smith, Jesus Jiménez, Anna Griffin, Campbell Robertson, Hamed Aleaziz and Eric Schmitt.
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