‘Empty building sites’: North Carolina immigration crackdown sparks fear among workers

Following the launch of a federal immigration enforcement operation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Democratic-run city of Charlotte, North Carolina, videos showing empty construction sites, devoid of workers, circulated widely on social media. 

Dubbed “Charlotte’s web”, the operation conducted by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) led to the arrest of more than 250 people between November 15 and 18, 2025, according to DHS. One week after the launch of the operation, CBS reported that less than a third of those arrested were classified as criminals.

One video shared on TikTok shows the work site of a residential area in the northeast of the city, with a caption reading: “In Charlotte, NC, empty construction sites for fear of ice.” 

"Nobody showed up for work... ice," wrote another TikTok user, who has regularly posted construction-related videos on the platform for months. In another video, he added: "Charlotte, we are going through difficult times... We are hardworking migrants, not criminals."

In North Carolina's capital, Raleigh, where the raids expanded, 200 construction workers were reported missing the week of November 17, according to industry sources who spoke to local news outlet Carolina Journal.

The operation targets a state with a substantial immigrant population. Foreign-born individuals constitute nearly 17% of Charlotte’s residents and make up 12% of North Carolina’s labour force. ​​Their contribution is even greater in some sectors, accounting for 27 percent of construction workers.

‘Reign of terror on immigrant workers’

Amid the operation, organisations have spoken out against the impact of the raids on workers and businesses, condemning ICE for targeting people at work.

In a statement released on November 19, the North Carolina State American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), one of the largest federations of unions in the US, demanded the Trump administration “end its reign of terror on immigrant workers”, blasting the operation as “a serious threat to the basic rights of all working people”.

Its president, Braxton Winston, personally witnessed the operation. A video he livestreamed to Facebook on November 16 shows residents chasing Border Patrol agents through the woods as the agents approached a forestry site.

"They focus on messing with people at work, generating revenue, building our city,” he says in the video. “They are not going up with people who are doing things wrong; they’re dealing with people who are at work.” 

Speaking to our team, Winston highlighted the agents’ tactics instilled fear across the entire community:

“It's not about whether you're undocumented or not. They were targeting people who – and I put air quotes – ‘look like they were born in a foreign country.’ 

I saw them pull up on a guy who was just cleaning up a parking lot, and they started asking him, ‘What country were you born in?’

Some of our workers weren't even immigrants. This is not about any type of deep investigation. This is a wide net that was used to spark fear in a certain population of people, particularly our brothers and sisters from Central and South America.”

‘Entire work sites were closed’

Winston also witnessed the consequences of the raids on the city:

“It terrorised whole classes of workers, it slowed the economy of our community.  Entire work sites, including several major construction sites, were closed. 

There were entire neighborhoods where small businesses were closed. For a week, it was dangerous for people to leave their homes and go to work."

Several Charlotte businesses announced their decision to temporarily close on social media.

Among them is Legends, an ice cream shop. Its co-owner explained in an Instagram video that the closure was necessary to protect his employees and customers. “Everyone’s safety is more important,” he said.

“As of right now, I cannot take the risk to bring my employee to be profiled,” he told the local news outlet CharlotteFive.

A bakery, which has been a cornerstone of the immigrant community, also made headlines by closing its doors – the first time in 28 years. 

Many of these businesses have since reopened. But while local law enforcement said that CBP agents would leave the city on November 21, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a November 20 statement that “the operation is not over and it is not ending anytime soon". Moreover, ICE agents are expected to continue operations there.

‘There are small businesses that can't survive being impeded for a week’

Winston also warns that those closures are not without impacts:

“There are small businesses that can't survive being impeded for a week. A business isn't a natural disaster, where they can go to their insurance company to get reimbursed.

I saw ‘mom-and-pop stores’ – family or neighbourhood stores – closing. They're losing $2,500 in revenue on average [daily]. That's a lot of money for those stores that survive based on their foot traffic day-to-day."

A survey of 90 Charlotte business owners conducted by nonprofit CharlotteEast and reported by US media outlet Axios found that 47% of those were closed for at least three days. 

However, Winston stresses that the real impact of these raids is still to be determined:

“That's some of the work that we're turning to now to get data about the real economic impact that the community felt from people not going to work or not spending money. 

We'll still have to see because we have a lot of big projects going on in Charlotte, from construction sites. Only a small amount of work stoppage is built into those budgets, especially today when inflation is slowing economic activity. Events like these can have domino effects. We're just starting to quantify what those look like."

In response to the operation, the city of Charlotte has committed $100,000 to support families who have lost wages or faced financial hardships because they were unable to work after their businesses closed or they stayed home out of fear.

The Secure Growth Initiative, which represents more than 100,000 small businesses nationally, is also pushing to hold the federal government responsible for the economic loss due to mass deportation policies. Their study indicates that, across the US, one in five business owners reports losing employees due to immigration crackdowns.

‘The Border Patrol wants to do its work under the cover of darkness’

While condemning the federal operation, Winston highlighted the community effort to aid the affected workers.

“We took the lessons that were learned in other places, and we organized to protect people who were targets.

For instance, our partners at Carolina Migrant Network and Siembra North Carolina set up a hotline where everybody could communicate what they were seeing. Therefore, they were able to provide rapid responses so that we could go and support the areas where the actions were happening. The Border Patrol wants to do its work under the cover of darkness. It's really important for people to show up to film and make it uncomfortable for them to abduct people without a warrant, which was happening."

In the video he posted to Facebook, Winston also calls for greater involvement from the business community, relying on these workers. “Bankers, millionaires, billionaires, get on the phone and tell these people [the federal agents] to get out of our city…  Where is my business alliance there? Business community, you need to stand up right now…"