ICE Made 3,300+ Arrests in North Carolina in Early 2025

January 21, 2026

Summary

ICE arrested more than 3,300 people in North Carolina through Oct. 15, 2025, doubling the state’s total arrests in 2024, new data shows.

Why this matters

The data provides insight into immigration enforcement trends in North Carolina during a key period in federal policy, with implications for local communities and law enforcement cooperation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 3,300 people in North Carolina between Jan. 20 and Oct. 15, 2025, according to data from the University of California Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project. The group obtains ICE arrest data through public records requests and litigation. That figure is about double the total from all of 2024.

Arrest locations ranged statewide, from Mecklenburg County to New Hanover and Cherokee counties. More than two-thirds of the arrests occurred in county jails, state prisons, and similar facilities. At least 70 arrests were recorded at state prisons, though most entries only identified the site as “North Carolina Department of Corrections.”

The data set does not include arrests made during Border Patrol’s immigration enforcement initiative that began in November 2025. Called “Charlotte’s Web,” the operation had resulted in 425 arrests as of Dec. 3, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Border Patrol and ICE.

Nationwide, ICE arrested approximately 220,000 people during the same period.

Between May 21 and Oct. 15, ICE’s arrest rate in North Carolina was 17.4 per 100,000 residents, ranking the state 36th among all 50 states and Puerto Rico, according to the research nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative.

More than 9% of North Carolina’s residents—around 1 million people—are foreign-born, based on a 2023 study.

County-level data shows:
– Buncombe County recorded 12 arrests from Jan. 20 to mid-October, mostly at the county detention center, compared with none in 2024 and two in 2023.
– Cabarrus County had 146 arrests.
– Cherokee County reported four arrests.
– Two people were apprehended at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
– More than 600 arrests occurred in the Triangle region, including Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
– Few arrests were reported in the Northeast, an area with significant agricultural activity.

According to the data, most individuals arrested were originally from Latin American countries such as Mexico and Honduras. Others came from China, Afghanistan, Jamaica, and additional countries. ICE agents apprehended at least 38 children, including one under age 3, the data showed.

ICE has not publicly identified the majority of individuals arrested in the state. A DHS website launched in December lists nearly 400 North Carolina arrests among those it describes as the “worst of the worst.” According to Cato Institute analysis, 56% of people arrested by ICE nationally have not been charged with violent crimes.

Individuals on the DHS list include a Ukrainian national extradited in 2024 for wire fraud, a person convicted of mail fraud, and several individuals charged with drug possession.

ICE made hundreds of arrests in North Carolina through the 287(g) program, which permits local law enforcement to assist with federal immigration enforcement. More than 25 sheriff’s offices and police departments across the state had such agreements. Other arrests resulted from immigration detainers requesting local facilities hold individuals until ICE arrives.

More than 30 arrests were reported at county probation offices. Thirty-seven individuals were arrested at the federal prison in Butner or its nearby medical facility. Some arrest locations were listed only as “RDU GENERAL AREA, NON-SPECIFIC.”

DHS has not responded to a request for more information about the criminal histories of individuals arrested in the Charlotte-area enforcement operation.

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