This case challenges a pattern and practice by federal immigration authorities of conducting warrantless arrests without probable cause across North Carolina, in violation of federal law and the Constitution.
The plaintiffs—five individuals, including U.S. citizens and a lawful permanent resident—filed this class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and others in a similar situation. They were all arrested by federal immigration agents despite the absence of any legal basis to believe they were subject to deportation from the United States or posed a risk of fleeing.
The lawsuit centers on immigration enforcement operations carried out by the Trump-Vance administration, including a large-scale deployment known as “Operation Charlotte’s Web.” Beginning in late 2025, heavily armed and often masked agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), conducted sweeping operations across cities, including Charlotte, Durham, and Raleigh.
According to the complaint, agents detained and arrested people in public places – on streets, at workplaces, and in parking lots – without warrants and without individualized probable cause. In many cases, agents targeted individuals based on appearance or language, including U.S. citizens and people lawfully present in the country.
Federal law is clear that warrantless immigration arrests are permitted only when officers have probable cause to believe a person is subject to deportation and likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The lawsuit alleges that DHS systematically ignored these requirements, instead adopting a “detain-first, justify-later” approach that violates statutory and constitutional protections.
The complaint describes violent and aggressive enforcement tactics, including agents smashing car windows, forcibly removing individuals from vehicles, and detaining people without explanation. Individuals were sometimes released only after agents later confirmed that they were U.S. citizens or lawfully present, often after being transported miles away from where they were stopped.
The plaintiffs seek to represent a class of individuals who have been or will be subjected to these unlawful arrest practices. They ask the court to declare the policy and practices unlawful and to issue an injunction to stop further warrantless arrests that do not meet legal standards.
Timeline
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Lawsuit was filed
