Among the plaintiffs is Willy Aceituno, a U.S. citizen who captured video of CBP agents smashing his car windows to detain him in November.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ A group of North Carolina residents, including four U.S. citizens and a visa holder, filed a federal classโaction lawsuit accusing the Department of Homeland Security of carrying out violent, warrantless immigration arrests across the state in a November operation.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and alleges that agents with Customs and Border Protection and other DHS components have detained and arrested people โindiscriminately,โ often targeting Latino residents without probable cause and in violation of federal law. The lawsuit seeks a court order halting the operation, which DHS has said will continue.
Charlotte became the first city in the country where Border Patrol said it would lead its own largeโscale civil immigration enforcement effort without coordinating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ย Although ICE has also made arrests in the region, the agency has said it was not coordinating with CBP during the operation.
CBPโs presence in Charlotte first became widely visible on the morning of Nov. 15, 2025, when unmarked SUVs and masked agents in tactical gear were reported across the city. The earliest public sighting occurred on South Boulevard, near Baleada Bar and Grill, where witnesses described tense confrontations with heavily armed officers wearing face coverings.
One of the plaintiffs, 46โyearโold Charlotte resident Willy Aceituno, said he had just picked up breakfast when he noticed agents chasing two people. Moments later, he said, he walked back to his truck and found himself surrounded.
Aceituno said agents blocked his vehicle with three SUVs, demanded he open his door, and shattered his driverโside window when he refused.
โWhen I tried to start my car, all the other cars stopped me,โ Aceituno told WCNC Charlotte in November.. โIn one minute, the officer said, โHey, open the door,โ and I was scared because it was two to three minutes since I came for breakfast to go to work.โ
Aceituno said agents pulled him through the broken window, handcuffed him, and drove him away despite his repeated pleas for them to check his identification. He was later released after officers confirmed he was a U.S. citizen.
DHS publicly defended agentsโ conduct in a November statement, saying โAmerican citizens should NEVER help criminals evade officers.” It claimed Aceituno became โerratic,โ refused commands, and had to be removed from his vehicle โ and alleged he later admitted he was trying to distract officers. Aceituno denies this in the complaint.
Witness videos from the same weekend showed agents handcuffing a woman who insisted she was a U.S. citizen and questioning others as they put up Christmas lights in a Charlotte neighborhood.
According to the lawsuit, arrests like these have continued for months, with agents reportedly smashing car windows, forcing vehicles off the road, and detaining people without explaining why. The complaint argues that federal law allows warrantless immigration arrests only when officers have probable cause that a person is removable and likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
The suit seeks classโaction status on behalf of anyone stopped or arrested without a warrant for immigration purposes in North Carolina since November. It asks the court to halt the operation, declare DHSโs practices unlawful, and require the agency to expunge records of the arrests.
The federal agencies have not legally responded to the lawsuit
