Border Patrol plans to expand immigration crackdown to Charlotte, New Orleans

3 days ago 6

The Trump medication is readying to dispatch scores of Border Patrol agents to Charlotte and New Orleans to oversee migration enforcement operations that could impact armored vehicles and peculiar operations teams, according to interior authorities documents and U.S. officials.

The interior Department of Homeland Security preparations reviewed by CBS News database Charlotte and New Orleans arsenic the adjacent targets of President Trump's wide deportation campaign. Like successful Chicago and Los Angeles — which person seen highly disposable and often arguable national migration arrests successful caller months — green-uniformed Border Patrol agents are expected to play a pb relation successful the operations successful Charlotte and New Orleans.

The planned Border Patrol cognition successful Charlotte, wherever an operations halfway is being stood up, is expected to commencement soon, arsenic aboriginal arsenic adjacent week, 2 sources acquainted with the plans told CBS News.

Garry McFadden, the sheriff of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, said Thursday helium had been "contacted by 2 abstracted national oﬃcials confirming US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit volition beryllium arriving successful the Charlotte country arsenic aboriginal arsenic this Saturday oregon the opening of adjacent week."

Border Patrol's absorption is past expected to displacement to New Orleans, wherever arsenic galore arsenic 200 CBP agents could beryllium deployed, according to the sources and interior DHS documents.

Armored vehicles, including alleged "BearCats," person been requested for some Charlotte and New Orleans, alongside peculiar operations agents, the interior documents show. Internally, officials person dubbed the plans "Charlotte Web" and "Catahoula Crunch," successful evident notation to the children's caller and the authoritative authorities canine of Louisiana, respectively.

Many of the Border Patrol agents deployed to the Chicago portion earlier this fall, including outspoken commandant Gregory Bovino, are expected to enactment successful the upcoming operations successful Charlotte and New Orleans, 2 U.S. officials said. CBS News was first to report past week that Bovino and astir Border Patrol agents would beryllium leaving Chicago, and that they could beryllium redirected to locations similar Charlotte.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, center, leads national agents toward protesters adjacent the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding installation successful Broadview, Illinois, connected Oct. 3, 2025.

DHS adjunct caput for nationalist affairs Tricia McLaughlin said the section does "not sermon aboriginal oregon imaginable operations."

"Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the federation crossed the country," McLaughlin added.

The plans exemplify the Trump administration's continued reliance connected Border Patrol agents to transportation retired its sweeping, nationwide crackdown connected amerciable immigration.

While Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the national bureau charged with enforcing U.S. migration laws successful the interior of the country, the Trump medication has deployed teams of Border Patrol agents to Chicago, Los Angeles and different places acold distant from the U.S.-Mexico border, wherever amerciable crossings plunged to a 55-year debased successful fiscal twelvemonth 2025.

In some Chicago and Los Angeles, the operations by Border Patrol agents, successful galore cases personally led by Bovino, person travel nether scrutiny, sparking protests and tense confrontations with section residents who person denounced the agency's actions arsenic overly aggressive.

ICE officers and Border Patrol agents are each national migration officials with the aforesaid ineligible authorization to apprehension radical suspected of being successful the state illegally. But their operations typically disagree successful benignant and nature.

While ICE has besides aggressively expanded migration enforcement crossed the state nether Mr. Trump, its arrests proceed to be, to a ample extent, targeted operations driven by quality gathering and anterior surveillance that typically people radical successful the U.S. illegally who besides person committed crimes.

In Chicago and Los Angeles, connected the different hand, Border Patrol agents person conducted "roving" operations that are much indiscriminate successful nature, targeting places similar Home Depot parking tons and worksites that they judge are frequented by radical who don't person ineligible support to beryllium successful the U.S.

The usage of unit that Border Patrol has employed against protesters has besides travel nether withering criticism, including from a national justice successful Chicago who imposed drastic limits connected the quality for agents to deploy teardrop state and assemblage power tactics. Trump medication officials support agents person utilized the indispensable force, citing instances of civilians interfering with operations oregon turning to violence.

"The usage of unit that I've seen has been exemplary — the slightest magnitude of unit indispensable to execute the mission," Bovino told CBS News past month.