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gregory bovino
'We Do Not Want ICE Here': NC Officials Oppose Trump Targeting Immigrants in Charlotte
"Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity," said Congresswoman Alma Adams, warning of "what we have seen Border Patrol and ICE agents do in places like Chicago and Los Angeles."
Nov 14, 2025
Elected officials in North Carolina are letting it be known they do not want to see federal immigration raids in their communities like those suffered by other states in recent months.
As CBS News reported Friday morning that after two months of terrorizing Chicago, US Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino left for Charlotte, officials came together in his apparent destination to speak out against the looming assault on immigrants there.
"We're all gathered here from many branches of government, from obviously our state Legislature, our school board, our County Commission, our City Council members, because we do not want ICE here," said state House Rep. Aisha Dew (D-107), referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"We do not need to have Border Patrol. As I've already said, I'm not quite sure what border we're patrolling here," she continued. Stressing that the surrounding US states pose no threat to North Carolina, Dew added that "this is a safe city. Our crime rates have gone down since the previous year. This is just another something out of the playbook."
The press conference—which also included leaders of local organizations—came after various reports this week cited unnamed US officials who said President Donald Trump has set his sights on Charlotte.
Amid mounting reports of the forthcoming operation, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry L. McFadden said in a Thursday statement that he was contacted a day earlier "by two separate federal officials confirming that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel will be arriving in the Charlotte area as early as this Saturday or the beginning of next week."
"At this time, specific details regarding the federal operation have not been disclosed and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) has not been requested to assist with or participate in any enforcement actions," the statement highlighted.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department similarly said in a Friday statement that CMPD "has no authority to enforce federal immigration laws" and "does not participate in ICE operations, nor are we involved in the planning of these federal activities."
ICE and CBP are both part of the US Department of Homeland Security. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has declined to provide any details about possible action in Charlotte, telling multiple outlets: "Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country. We do not discuss future or potential operations."
As the Associated Press noted Thursday:
Trump has defended sending the military and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and even the nation's capital, saying the unprecedented operations are needed to fight crime and carry out his mass deportation agenda.
Charlotte is another such Democratic stronghold. A statement of solidarity from several local and state officials estimated the city is home to more than 150,000 foreign-born people. The city's population is about 40% white, 33% Black, 16% Hispanic, and 7% Asian.
While a spokesperson for North Carolina Congressman Tim Moore, a Republican whose district includes parts of Mecklenburg County, expressed support for DHS in a statement to the Charlotte Observer, Democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams, who represents the targeted city, sounded the alarm about the department's reported plans.
"I am extremely concerned about the deployment of US Border Patrol and ICE agents to Charlotte," Adams said in a Thursday statement. "Charlotte's immigrant community is a proud part of the Queen City, and I will not stand by and watch my constituents be intimidated or harassed."
"Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, and what we have seen Border Patrol and ICE agents do in places like Chicago and Los Angeles—using excessive force in their operations and tear gassing peaceful protestors—threatens the well-being of the communities they enter," she continued. "Those tactics and values have no place in the city of Charlotte or Mecklenburg County."
After the sheriff's Thursday announcement, Charlotte's Democratic mayor, Vi Lyles, also shared a statement on social media: "We still don't know any details on where they may be operating and to what extent. I understand this news will create uncertainty and anxiety for many people in our community. Everyone in our community deserves to feel secure, and I am committed to doing all that I can to inform our community, help make sure everyone feels safe, and understands their rights."
"It is also important that people understand CMPD is not involved in federal immigration activities, so people who need local law enforcement services should feel secure calling 911," she added. "There continues to be rumors about enforcement activities and I would ask that everyone refrain from sharing unverified information. Doing so creates more fear and uncertainty when we need to be standing together. We will continue to work with local and state partners to do what we can to ensure the safety of our community."
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Top ICE Official Says Protesters Can Be Arrested for Simply Criticizing Mass Deportation Campaign: Court Filing
"It's impossible to overstate how much of what ICE is doing on the ground reflects this completely preposterous conflation of hostile speech and hostile conduct," commented one legal expert.
Nov 04, 2025
A court filing released late on Monday alleged that US Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino said that merely making what he called "hyperbolic comments" about immigration enforcement operations, including President Donald Trump's "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago, was enough to justify being arrested.
As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday, attorneys representing several Chicago-based media organizations who are suing to restrict federal immigration agents' use of force in their city claimed that Bovino said during a sworn deposition that "he has instructed his officers to arrest protesters who make hyperbolic comments in the heat of political demonstrations."
The attorneys also said in the court document that Russell Hott, the field director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago, said during his deposition that he did not agree that it would be "unconstitutional to arrest people" simply for expressing opposition to his agency's current mass deportation operation in the Windy City.
This section of the filing caught the attention of Steve Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University, who said it appeared federal immigration officials are straightforwardly violating the First Amendment right to peacefully protest.
"It's impossible to overstate how much of what ICE is doing on the ground reflects this completely preposterous conflation of hostile speech and hostile conduct," he wrote in a post on Bluesky. "The First Amendment protects—or, at least, is supposed to protect—the former up and until it's a 'true threat,' which none of this is."
Elsewhere in the filing, the plaintiffs' attorneys alleged that Bovino said during testimony that he had "interacted with many violent rioters and individuals" at the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, which in recent weeks has become the focal point of local protests. Additionally, the attorneys wrote, Bovino would "not admit he has ever seen protesters who were not violent rioters."
The attorneys commented that "by Bovino's logic, anyone who shows up to protest is presumptively violent or assaultive and he can 'go hard' against them."
The case involving the Chicago media organizations and federal immigration enforcement officials is currently being overseen by US District Court Judge Sara Ellis, who last month issued a temporary restraining order that barred federal officers from using riot control weapons “on members of the press, protestors, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others.”
Federal immigration officials have been employing increasingly aggressive and violent tactics in the Chicago area in recent weeks, including attacking a journalist and a protesting priest with pepper balls outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility; slamming a congressional candidate to the ground; dragging US citizens, including children, out of their homes during a raid in the middle of the night; and fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop.
A hearing on whether to make permanent Ellis’ restraining order which strictly limits the use of riot control munitions has been set for November 5.
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Chicago Judge Demands Answers From Border Patrol Chief Over Tear Gas at Kids' Halloween Parade
"Their sense of safety was shattered," the judge said of local children whose Halloween parade was disrupted by federal agents deploying tear gas in their vicinity.
Oct 28, 2025
A Chicago judge rebuked US Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino on Tuesday after several of his agents over the weekend deployed tear gas in a neighborhood where local children were preparing for a Halloween parade—in violation of a previous court order barring the use of the chemical unless federal officers are in immediate danger.
During a court appearance, Bovine was dressed down by US District Court Judge Sara Ellis, who said Border Patrol agents had violated her earlier restraining order that barred US Department of Homeland Security officials from using riot control weapons “on members of the press, protestors, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others."
As reported by Heather Cherone, a politics reporter at local Chicago news station WTTW, Ellis grilled Bovine about multiple uses of force by federal immigration agents in recent weeks.
First, Ellis asked Bovine to comment on allegations filed in her court last week about federal immigration agents pointing a gun at a man who was peacefully protesting against their actions while standing on the side of a public street.
Bovine replied that he did not know the specific details of that incident, which Ellis said violated her earlier restraining order "on its face."
Next, Ellis described video footage taken last weekend in the neighborhood of Old Irving Park showing federal immigration agents placing a US citizen in a chokehold after he had approached agents and asked them what they were doing. In this case, Bovino acknowledged that this action as described would not be an appropriate use of force.
Finally, Ellis asked Bovino about the tear gas deployed in Old Irving Park as families were preparing for an annual children’s Halloween parade. The Border Patrol agents' use of the chemical appeared impossible to justify, said Elliis, given all known facts.
"These kids, you can imagine, their sense of safety was shattered," Ellis said, referring to children in the neighborhood. "It is going to take a long time to come back, if ever."
According to Chicago Tribune reporter Jason Meisner, Ellis also told Bovino that kids should feel they're able to go to local Halloween events without having to "worry about getting tear-gassed."
"That’s not how any of us want to live," Ellis emphasized. "I know you wouldn’t want to live that way."
The federal immigration operation in Old Irving Park on Saturday targeted a man named Luis Villegas, an undocumented immigrant who was working in the area and who, according to his brother, was brought to the US when he was four years old.
Agents detained two other people in the neighborhood in addition to Villegas, and deployed tear gas after several neighbors came out of their homes to yell at the officers, film them, and demand that they leave the neighborhood. A former Cook County prosecutor who lives in Old Irving Park and witnessed Villegas' arrest told reporters that the agents were never under any threat.
Ellis ordered Bovino to appear in her courtroom every single day going forward to recap his agents’ actions in the district, according to Cherone.
She also demanded that Bovino ensure that every one of his officers is equipped with a body camera, and to submit all reports on use of force incidents and corresponding body camera footage by Friday.
A hearing on whether to make permanent Ellis' restraining order which strictly limits the use of riot control munitions has been set for November 5, according to Cherone.
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