During Donald Trump's second presidency, United States immigration officials have engaged in mass deportation operations across the country. These operations involve city-wide upsurges in immigration enforcement officials, especially Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. These operations have been met with protests and significant public backlash. Enforcement officials have killed citizens and non-during these operations, most notably Alex Pretti and Renée Good during Operation Metro Surge.
List
Safeguard
Midway Blitz
Charlotte's Web On November 15, ICE and other federal agencies deployed in Charlotte, North Carolina, to conduct a blitz of immigration raids nicknamed "Operation Charlotte's Web" after the children's book of the same name. 130 people were arrested in the first 48 hours of the operation with 81 of those 130 detained in the first five hours of the raids. Charlotte and Mecklenberg County officials denounced the raids for "causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty in our community". A 46 year old naturalized US citizen was stopped twice by ICE on the first day of operations in Charlotte, showing his papers to them both times. The second time, his window was smashed and he was dragged out of the car by federal agents. He was later released. Protests occurred in Charlotte, including at immigrant rights activist Manolo Betancur's bakery.
On November 17, a Border Patrol agent smashed a woman's car window and pointed his gun at her before detaining her.
On November 18, ICE deployed to Wake and Durham Counties, as well as Cary, North Carolina. Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said that the federal presence had shut down "almost all" of the city's Mexican restaurants and forced other businesses to operate without their Hispanic staff. The Wake County deployment provoked large protests in Raleigh. Organizers in Charlotte, Evanston and Cary monitored federal activities and used whistles to warn bystanders of a federal presence. A Charlotte laundromat owner operated his business with the doors locked to prevent immigration agents from apprehending his customers. OurBRIDGE, an immigrant services organization, was forced to suspend its afterschool programs after more than 20 agents arrived at the organization's childcare center at 10 AM on November 18. Fear over immigration raids resulted in more than 30,000 students – nearly 20% of the district's enrollment – being absent from Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools on November 17. On November 18, high school students in Charlotte staged a walkout to protest the raids. By 21 November, DHS said more than 370 people had been arrested in Charlotte.
Martha White, granddaughter of Charlotte's Web author E. B. White, criticized the use of the book's title for the operation.
Swamp Sweep and Catahoula Crunch On December 3, a deployment of 250 Border Patrol agents by the DHS to New Orleans (called the "Swamp Sweep") began. Trump administration officials overseeing the Border Patrol deployment were reportedly aiming to make 5,000 immigration law arrests in New Orleans. Raids took place throughout the New Orleans metro area, with 13 people arrested outside of a Lowes in New Orleans and at least two Home Depots. Agents also interrupted a roofing job in Kenner, Louisiana, taking construction workers into custody. Agents pointed guns at the roofers before arresting them. On December 7, the Associated Press reported that fewer than one-third of the law enforcement records for the 38 arrests made in the first two days of the New Orleans Border Patrol deployment included criminal histories.
Catahoula Crunch was an immigration enforcement operation in southeastern Louisiana, taking place in December 2025. It was led by the Border Patrol and resulted in 560 arrests. The House Homeland Security Committee examined this operation in a January hearing. In January, many personnel involved in the operation were moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In January 2026, ICE detained a New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) recruit that DHS claimed had been issued a final order of removal the previous month after having permanent residency application denied in 2022 due to alleged fraud, while the NOPD said DHS made misleading statements about the recruit's case, that DHS instead had previously approved the recruit's employment eligibility, and that ICE never notified the NOPD that it was seeking to detain the recruit prior to the recruit's detention.
Metro Surge
Salvo
Catch of the Day On January 21, an operation began in Maine titled "Operation Catch of the Day", conducted primarily in the cities of Lewiston and Portland. As of January 23, federal officers had arrested about 100 people and DHS officials said the operation had approximately 1,400 targets.
Despite claims that ICE was targeting violent criminals, court records reportedly show that not all persons detained had been convicted of violent crimes. Among those arrested were corrections officers for Cumberland County and York County who reportedly had approved federal work authorizations and no criminal histories. At a press conference on January 22, Maine governor Janet Mills said that no one within her gubernatorial administration had any contact with Trump administration officials about the ICE operation and expressed skepticism that all 1,400 ICE targets had criminal histories. After questioning the rationale for the operation in news interviews, U.S. senator Susan Collins requested information from DHS about the operation's rationale and conduct, as well as the legal rationale for certain detentions. Mills called on DHS officials to present judicial warrants when making arrests, to compile arrest statistics, and provide basic information to the state government that identifies detainees, while Collins generally avoided criticizing ICE's conduct other than arguing that immigrants lawfully within the country should not be targeted by ICE operations and in favor of body cameras and de-escalation training for ICE officers.
On January 29, Collins announced that the large-scale ICE operation in Maine had ended after she spoke to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Safe Community – Atlanta On August 7, 2026, ICE announced it had arrested 1,226 people in an operation in the Atlanta area and other parts of Georgia. The agency did not specify how long the operation lasted or the specific days when.
Safe Community – Washington, D.C. ICE held an operation in the Washington metropolitan area from August 1–14, 2026. Titled "Operation Safe Community – Washington", the operation primarily focused on the suburbs in Maryland and Virginia, with some arrests in other parts of the states. ICE said 1,328 people were arrested during the operation.
Fairfield County, Connecticut operation In late August 2026, an increase in immigration arrests was reported by local officials in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves said more than 70 people had been arrested as of August 31. ICE also arrested people in Stamford and Bridgeport, with Senator Richard Blumenthal saying that hundreds had been arrested statewide. ICE later confirmed an operation had taken place from August 24 to 28, with 118 arrests made.
Notes
References