By: Andrea Cortes-Espitia 

During November, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to The Guardian’s reporter, George Chidi, the metropolitan Southern city has condemned the arrival of I.C.E, as described in an article titled “Charlotte activists met the immigration crackdown with ‘bless your heart’ resistance.” The article was published on Nov. 23, 2025, a week before I.C.E agents arrived. Chidi described the different ways prior cities have addressed ICE entering their cities, saying, “Los Angeles raged against the machine. Portland staged street theater. Washington DC jurors refused to convict people charged with crimes of resistance.” 

As of Nov. 2025, Charlotte has reacted with a true Southern phrase in their I.C.E. resistance efforts, adopting the “bless your heart” direction. According to Chidi, grassroots and non-profit organizations have been trained to monitor I.C.E. activity, volunteers working a “wide-ranging early-warning system[…] that spanned from Tryon Street downtown to the mountain towns of western North Carolina.” 

Protestors in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo Credit: The Guardian 

According to Chidi, as a result of volunteer work observing I.C.E. action in Charlotte, people would honk their car horns to warn locals of I.C.E.’s presence in the neighborhood. It has been reported that Border Patrol agents arrested two women in November who honked their horns as warnings, agents breaking their car window to get them. 

In Winston-Salem, WXII 12 reports how the “North Carolina Hispanic community fears Customs and Border Patrol raids come too close to home” in a Nov. 18, 2025 article by reporter Serra Sowers. I.C.E. raids in fall of 2025 in Charlotte and Raleigh continue to trouble and worry Hispanic locals in Winston-Salem. The Salemite will continue to report this as the story develops further.