The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Operation Charlotte’s Web, launched Saturday to target illegal immigrants with criminal records, has already led to dozens of arrests.
The operation “will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to the Tar Heel State because they knew sanctuary politicians would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” a Saturday DHS press release reads. Eighty-one arrests were made in connection with the operation on Saturday alone, The New York Times reported.
The operation was led over the weekend by Chief Border Patrol Agent Greg Bovino, who also led recent similar deportation raids in Los Angeles and Chicago, according to the outlet.
‘Wherever the wind takes us. High, low. Near, far. East, west. North, south. We take to the breeze, we go as we please.’ — Charlotte’s Web
This time, the breeze hit Charlotte like a storm. From border towns to the Queen City, our agents go where the mission calls.#DHS #CBP… pic.twitter.com/de0nqHn3vR
— Commander Op At Large CA Gregory K. Bovino (@CMDROpAtLargeCA) November 16, 2025
“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed. There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens. President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.”
DHS’s Saturday press release included photos and profiles of seven criminal illegal immigrants — including men arrested for pedophilia and murder — the release dubbed the “worst of the worst.” It also stated they were all released “back onto North Carolina’s streets” because authorities refused to honor detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
As Operation Charlotte’s Web unfolded over the weekend, Bovino posted pictures to X of illegal immigrants with violent criminal histories being arrested.
Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein appeared to criticize the then-impending operation in a Friday statement.
“We should all focus on arresting violent criminals and drug traffickers. Unfortunately, that’s not always what we have seen with ICE and Border Patrol Agents in Chicago and elsewhere around the country,” the governor wrote. “The vast majority of people they have detained have no criminal convictions, and some are American citizens.”
Stein went on to urge North Carolinians to record federal immigration agents, noting “when we see injustice, we bear witness.”
“If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe long after these federal agents leave,” the governor’s statement continued. “That’s the North Carolina way.”
The operation, ostensibly named in part for the city in which it is focused, also shares its name with a popular 1952 children’s novel about a pig and a spider.
Martha White, the granddaughter of late “Charlotte’s Web” author E.B. White, criticized DHS’s decision to name the operation after her grandfather’s book. She told CNN on Sunday that the elder White, who died in 1985, “certainly didn’t believe in masked men, in unmarked cars, raiding people’s homes and workplaces without IDs or summons.”
DHS did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for additional comment.
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